The meeting ran a lot longer than expected as Perry seemed to be particularly unreceptive to any ideas that were being proposed, the lack of readership for the paper was no surprise. There weren't many people to read the paper anymore as most took to social media for their source of news. The fact was that we needed a big story and not much happened in Metropolis that warranted front page coverage.

All the front page news was world news and it seemed that the citizens of Metropolis weren't interested in their local paper only covering news outside of their city. Occasionally Lex Luther would make an extravagant appearance or start a new project, but in a large city like Metropolis everyday crime or puff pieces didn't sell papers the way they used to. This often resulted in their editor-in-chief to push them more or completely pass on smaller ideas that weren't flashy enough for any major coverage.

But even as Perry and the others continued to pitch ideas and assign stories Irene couldn't be as fully invested in the meeting as she usually tended to be. These meetings were something that she took extremely serious as it took her years to even be allowed into the conference room to participate, it was an opportunity that she latched onto fiercely. Now she was only focused on the time and her silence was something that he colleagues noticed as she didn't say a word when Perry failed to assign her a story of her own.

"Anyone else have anything to contribute?" Perry asked as his eyes landed briefly on Irene as he expected her to interject one of her ideas like she usually did, only her mind was elsewhere entirely as she tapped her pen against the desk stealing another brief look at the clock. "No? Then see you all tomorrow."

Those words immediately had Irene on her feet as she practically rushed out of the conference room and towards her desk. She hated being late to anything and most importantly she hated letting her older brother down, especially after everything he had sacrificed to make she that she was standing in this building practically everyday. That constant reminder was what had her quickly gathering her things so that she could head to his house as quickly as possible.

"Irene?"

Taking a quick moment she looked up to meet the older journalist eyes, Lois Lane has missed today's meeting which wasn't very unusual for her as she was always following a big lead. In fact, she was one of the few people who almost had a free rein on what she got to write. Though admittedly free rein was a loose term when you had Perry White as your editor-in-chief. "Hey Lois."

Lois seemed slightly amused watching Irene frantically gather all of her belongings, mostly due to the fact that Irene was always put together. "I wanted to talk to you about something. Would you like to get a bite to eat or maybe some coffee?"

The offer slightly stunned Irene considering that her and Lois didn't have much of a relationship outside of their work setting, and she frankly didn't known what they could possible talk about if they did. But Lois Lane was a Pulitzer winning reporter and unquestionably the best journalist at the Planet, so Irene couldn't help but feel disappointed to have to turn down her offer. "I'd love to Lois but I can't today. How about tomorrow?"

She didn't seem entirely satisfied with the idea as Lois always wanted to make things happen in the moment, but she seemed to sense that whatever seemed to have Irene is such frantic state was important. Maybe to others her situation might not have been a dire one, and maybe it wasn't but she simply didn't want to fail her brother on the one thing he asked of her. "I suppose it can wait until tomorrow."

"Perfect." Irene replied with a smile before catching a small glimpse of Perry exiting the conference room to head towards his office.

Offering Lois one last apologetic smile Irene quickly slipped past her a rushed towards Perry wanting to catch him before he made it to his office knowing that if she had to hand over her story in a closed space they would undoubtedly fall into a long discussion. Adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder she rushed past the desk of her colleagues and stepped in front of Perry just before her reached to door to his office.

"Here's the Bibbowski piece." She declared as she handed Perry the story that she was able to finish just before the start of the meeting. The fact that she couldn't discuss it with Perry as he tended to completely remove sections of her writing unsettled her, the thought of her writing being dissected and published before she was able to read it over her self was something that probably wouldn't allow her to sleep at night. But she didn't have the time to defend her work as she already began to walk away from Perry. "See you tomorrow."

"Irene!" Perry called out loudly enough that the entire floor went quiet for a second before everyone went back to what they were doing as Perry White's loud outburst were a part of the day to day at the Planet. It was what Jimmy referred to as the 'tough love' approach even when he was the one that Perry usually was tougher on, but it was like Jimmy to always see the bright side of every situation.

"Tomorrow Perry." Irene assured knowing that if it was something extremely urgent he would have instructed her to stay after the meeting . As she quickly turned around she bumped into Ronald Troupe which resulted in all the documents that he was holding to scatter all over the carpet. "Shit. Sorry Ron."

The two reporters bent down and began to quickly pick up the sheets of paper that from the brief glimpses that Irene was getting were covered in numbers and business lingo that she didn't even attempt to understand. Ron was the main reporter on the Business pages of the paper and possibly the smartest person in the building, even if he preferred to remain mostly unnoticed.

"All good Irene." He replied kindly, though from memory there was never a moment when Ron Troupe was anything other than kind. In a bustling city like Metropolis it was difficult to find people like him who were all around genuinely good people, though they always fell victim to people like Steve Lombard who used them as the butt of any joke. Yet, Ron had a way of brushing off Steve's jokes or pranks in a way that Irene couldn't help to admire as she was sure that if she were in Ron's shoes she would have put a stop to Lombard's little 'jokes'. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Do I not look alright?" She questioned as she got to her feet. From the weird looks from Lois and other reporters during the meeting Irene was beginning to feel slightly self-conscious.

Ron shyly smiled and looked away as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he also stood "Oh don't take it the wrong way. You just seem in a rush that's all."

"I am. I am. Take care." She replied quickly as she rushed towards the elevator, it wasn't until she was through the revolving doors of the building and in a taxi that Irene felt a little more at ease. Looking out the cab window and watching the bustling streets of Metropolis pass by her in a single moment created a heavy feeling in Irene's chest. For so many years making it as a reporter was all she ever wanted and there truly was nothing more fulfilling than writing a story that she was truly passionate about.

Those moments didn't come to her as often anymore, and all she desired now was that story to reignite that passion that possessed her at one point. As she looked at all the faces of Metropolis' citizens, their eyes void and their shoulders slouched as it seemed that the only thing that was getting them through the day was the idea of moving on to the next, Irene wondered if that was the future that awaited her too.

Metropolis was a commuter city where it was more convenient to either use public transportation or walk from one destination to another as the traffic congestion was terrible. Only the wealthy in the city were known for owning a car, which meant that Irene heavily relied on taxis if she couldn't walk to her destination which was usually the Daily Planet or her older brothers house just outside of the New Troy area of Metropolis.

Angel had quickly decided that he didn't want to raise Mia in the center of a bustling city so moving to the suburbs of the Midvale borough of Metropolis. To this day Irene was amazed how her once rebellion brother became an almost completely different person when Mia came into the picture and especially when he had to become a single father. After Angel had given up the pursuit of his own career so that Irene could pursue her own, she did everything to help her brother and her ten year old niece.

Stepping out of the cab bag of food in hand it was still remarkable how different Midvale was to the New Troy area of Metropolis. The neighborhood was absent of the noisy traffic and voices of pedestrians in a hurry to get from one location to the next, but Irene couldn't imagine living anywhere else than the heart of the city. Over the years she had come to enjoy the smell of street food on every corner and even dealing with the occasional rude pedestrian had learned to toughen her skin.

"Sorry for running late the budget meeting took longer than expected." She quickly explained once she was inside the modest house as she placed the bags of fast food on the small counter. Usually she preferred to cook for them but there was hardly any time for the luxury, so she was forced to stop by the Big Belly Burger on the way with the knowledge of how incredibly unhealthy the place was known to be.

"It's alright Nene." Angel replied calling her by her childhood name as he immediately began to dig through the paper bag undoubtedly in search for french fries, which was a food that he could absolutely not live without. No matter who old her was Angel continued to eat like a teenage boy.

"Now where's little Mia?" Irene questioned as she looked around at the small space, her brothers house was modest but it always felt like home. Although they lived in the Midvale area his house was only a block away from Suicide Slum and was notable a lower-income area than the homes closer to New Troy.

"In her room." He explained though more didn't need to be said as she was coming into that age where she didn't want to be attached to her father all day long. Irene could still remember that days where Mia was practically glued to her fathers side refusing to even let him go to work. That felt like not so long ago but Mia was ten now and Irene could only wonder how time slipped by so quickly. "So how did your meeting go?"

Irene sighed as she took a seat across from her brother who was already in the process of eating his meal. Usually she attempted not to show her brother any signs of how frustrated she currently was at the Planet, only because she knew that his troubles were much more complex than her own. "Don't get me started Angel."

Her brother smiled knowingly, he knew her frustrations better than anyone. Regardless of how well she got along with her coworkers or how close she was with Jimmy they could never really begin to understand what her and Angel had gone through when they were younger. "Still struggling for your big story, aren't you hermanita?"

"At this point it feels like I'm stuck. I think it's pointless to keep trying." She voiced the reality that she refused to admit to herself. Even as she spoke the words now she refused to believe them or was actually considering giving up. Irene was simply too stubborn to even think of that possibility.

Angel shook his head a small smile touching on his lips as he stood, wiping away some of the crumbs front eh table top. He took one quick glance at the clock and released a sigh oh his own as he headed into the living room."My little sister give up? Not a chance."

Sitting up she followed her brother into the other room as he gathered his school supplies, from the slouch in his shoulders and the dark circles in his eyes it was clear just how tired he was. Having to walk up at the break of dawn for a construction job that hardly paid for the work he did and now he was going to night school to finish his degree in engineering. A degree that he would have completed a long time ago if Mia hadn't come into the picture. "How about you? How are your night classes going?"

"One more semester. Long overdue but better late than never I suppose." He replied though there was no resentment or melancholy in his voice, because he would never considering Mia anything other than a blessing in his life.

Irene watched her brother for a moment wondering is maybe this wasn't the right time to bring up their mother, but from the conversation she had with her last night Angel hadn't spoken to her in over a month. His relationship with their mother was complicated to say the least as he seemed to hold some resentment though Irene didn't believe it was towards their mother. But maybe it was easier for him to simply disconnect from her than having the weight of not being able to visit her on his shoulders. It wasn't easy for Irene either as she wished that she could take a trip to Mexico to visit her mother but she didn't have the luxury of time or money to make frequent visits. Living in a city like Metropolis came with a higher cost of living.

"Have you called amà yet?" Irene dared to question as she knew it was a sensitive topic to her brother. What happened to their mother was simple out of their control, not matter how cruel the situation was it was a simple reality in this world. Even years after their mother was deported  back to Mexico there had been no real possibility of getting her citizenship anytime soon, the only thing they could do was send her money when they could. It was really the only thing they could do and Irene hoped that it was enough.

"Called her this morning, but she mostly spoke with Mia." He replied dismissively as he headed towards the door before turning around like he had forgotten something. "Mia!"

He waited a moment to see if she would finally step out of her room, but as that moment passed it was clear that Mia wouldn't be leaving her room. A brief look of disappointment flashed across her brother's eyes, and it really did hurt Irene to see her brother struggle and work so much. He saw his absences in Mia's life as him failing to be a good father, the only comfort he held onto was the hope that Mia would understand once she was older that his absences were to better her life.

"Go. Go. Or you'll be late." Irene urged as she opened to front door knowing that he was capable of staying as long as he needed to say goodbye to Mia even if he would only be away for a couple of hours. Since Mia's mother left them when she was only three, Angel had grown extremely protective and always did his best to attempt to fill the whole the Mia's mother left behind. The cruel reality was that Mia would always notice that she didn't have a mother, that was especially true when she began school. In many ways Irene did the best she could to help Mis with the problems that she knew that Angel could never really understand, but that would never really be enough.

In the end Mia seemed to have the same fate as Irene and her brother having grown up without a mother, but at least Mia had Angel. Hopefully that would be enough.

A/N: Considering that this story is from the point of view of a reporter it felt right to include real world issues throughout the story. Because some mature and important issues will be touched and the DCEU films are very mature to begin with I will be including some lighthearted moments between characters. I am usually a very plot driven writer and although that will still be the case here I do want to make an effort to include more character moments. And yes Irene is Latina because we are all aware of the lack of diversity on this site, and although there will be some Spanish sprinkled throughout it will never be anything to fancy. Hope this chapter was't too boring but it's all about world building and meeting/ establishing side characters.