Irene sat at the edge of Lois' desk reading over her newly finished story on the accident that happened at Ferris Aircraft in Coast City. Only two days ago one of their military test pilots disappeared in an unexplainable accident.

There were many who were theorizing that it was an alien abduction, but since the Kryptonian attack any unexplainable accident was now being attributed to aliens. At the end of the day it didn't matter, Hal Jordan was still missing and it was unlikely that he would be seen again.

"So." Lois asked eagerly. Like all of Lois' stories it was great, she had to know as much. All the spelling mistakes throughout the story could be overlooked and were an easy fix because her writing was flawless otherwise.

"Come on Lois, when are you going to throw me a bone?" Steve Lombard suddenly questioned as he held two tickets in his hand waving them in the air like it would tempt Lois to accept. "Courtside seats to the game tonight, what do you say?"

Lois didn't seem the slightest bit impressed as met Lomard's eager eyes. "I'd say, you should go back to trolling the intern pool, you'll probably have more luck."

Almost on cue one of the new interns Jenny approached them with a draft of the day's paper before it officially went on the press for publishing. Irene took one of the copies flipping through to find her own story, a frown immediately forming on her lips as she read all the editorial changes that Perry had made to her piece.

Without another words Irene walked away from Lois who had now begun arguing with Steve and headed towards Perry's closed office.

"Perry?" Irene questioned as she entered his office not bothering to knock. She never appreciated whenever there were large changes to her pieces, but for this story in particular she had been rather proud of what she wrote. Perry removing what she considered a vital section of the story did not sit well with her. "You cut paragraph three of my piece on City Hall. why?"

Perry seemed displeased as he picked up the paper giving it one quick glance. "Reason one, it was redundant."

"But it was my favorite paragraph." Irene defended.

"Thank you for giving me reason two." He replied as he leaned back against his chair meeting her stubbornness with his own. "You fell in love with your words and put yourself into the story. Write about what you're writing about, not about you writing about what you're writing about."

She took his words in for a moment not only because of their confusing phrasing but because she realized that he was right. In her silence Perry slid the paper across the desk back to her, but Irene refused to let the matter go so easily. "We're not done talking about this."

"We never are. You want to know reason three?" Perry asked, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"What's reason three?"

"This isn't the story I asked for. I gave you two options: get me another Superman exclusive or write about that old theater on 42nd Street."

Irene rolled her eyes tired of Perry asking for another Superman piece. Not only did she not want to reach out to Clark, but she also didn't want to be known just by her Superman piece. She was well aware that it would be the staple of her career but she didn't want to be defined by it. "I already told you I can't get you another Superman exclusive."

"And why is that?"

"Unless you want me to commit a crime I don't see myself talking to Superman anytime soon."

Perry didn't seem convinced with her answer but he thankfully didn't press the issue any further. "Alright what about the mood piece I gave you about the razing of that old theater on 42nd Street?"

"I wasn't in the mood."

A soft chuckle surprised Irene, causing her to look behind her shoulder to find someone sitting in the middle of an interview. She was surprised that she hadn't noticed him when she walked in, but it hardly mattered now as she turned back to Perry. "Look I..." Irene paused, the words leaving her entirely as she turned around to face the stranger again. Only that he wasn't entirely a stranger.

It was Clark Kent. Or at least Irene thought it was Clark, the squared glasses he was now wearing made her doubt herself. That maybe she was hallucinating and only was seeing what she wanted to see.

"As you can see I was in the middle of an interview." Perry stated though his voice felt very distant. All of Irene's focus was on the man sitting at the chair a couple of feet away from her. "This is Clark Kent from the Smallville Daily Express. Clark, this is Irene Miranda, one of our senior reporters here at the Planet."

Clark stood quickly as he offered her a bright smile and extended his hand for her to shake. "Nice to meet you."

Irene took his hand but only for a moment before she turned her attention back to Perry. Not only did she want to prevent Perry from suspecting that they might already know each other, but it was hard to look at Clark after not having heard from him for so many months. In fact, she felt slightly irritated by him being there at all. It was foolish because Clark Kent didn't owe her anything, yet she still felt hurt by his absence and indifference after everything that they had gone through.

"Run my story as is." She insisted.

"Or what you'll walk?" Her boss questioned usinger Irene's own words against her. It was a common threat she used as an attempt to get what she wanted, but now she was well aware that it was a threat she wouldn't be able to use for some time now. "Do I have to remind you that you've just renewed your contract for another five years."

"Run it." Irene said more firmly not wanting to take no for an answer.

"Fine." Perry said with a sigh of defeat. "Just this once. But don't ignore any of my notes for your next story."

"Thank you Perry." She replied with a satisfied smile. Knowing that she had overstayed her welcome she headed towards the door, but not before stealing one last glance at Clark whose eyes were still on her. "Good luck Clark."

Slipping out of the office, Irene felt unable to wrap her mind around the fact that Clark was sitting in Perry's office interviewing for a job at the Daily Planet. She had already accepted the fact that she would probably never see Clark again, and she couldn't really understand what he was doing here now.

Silently Irene took a seat at her desk reading through her emails for the day needing to get her mind off everything other than work. She had deadlines she had to meet and had just gotten her promotion, in no way did she want Perry to doubt his decision.

A small gasp caused Irene to look up at Cat who met her eyes briefly before quickly turning away.

"Who is that?" Cat suddenly questioned as her eyes were trained across the other side of the room where Clark and Perry were currently talking with Lois. It seemed that Perry had given Clark the job, something that was odd for the man who tended to enjoy making potential candidates wait weeks before calling them to offer a position. Clark must have either been extremely charming or his work was exceptional. "Whoever he is I want a taste of him."

Irene's eyes widened not only from Cat's words but the realization that Clark had probably heard her. "Cat!"

"Don't lie. As stubborn as you can be even you wouldn't be able to resist."

Irene shook her head as she turned her attention back to her work, but even she couldn't ignore the fact that she was beginning to blush at her words. "I'm not having this conversation."

"Stop talking, they're coming this way." Cat whispered as she casually acted surprised as Lois and Clark approached their desks.

"Ladies this is Clark Kent, he's our new stringer." Lois introduced though from her attitude it was clear that she would rather be doing anything else other than showing the new guy around the place. Knowing Lois she was undoubtedly in the middle of a story before Perry tasked her with Clark.

"Catherine Grant." She greeted reaching out to shake Clark's hand, pulling him closer to her in the process. "But people around here call me Cat."

Clark chuckled awkwardly as he slowly took his hand back. He seemed slightly uncomfortable with how forward Cat was being, but he continued to be as polite as always. Cat tended to be a little overwhelming at times but that was part of her charm, and although it did take some getting used to it was one of the things that Irene had learned to love about Cat.

"Welcome to the Planet." Irene said as she also stood still trying to accept the fact that Clark was standing in front of her and that no one around them knew that he was Superman.

"I'm happy to be here." He replied with a smile as he pushed his glass higher up the bridge of his nose. It was a gesture that Irene found endearing and that caused the slight resentment she felt towards him to fade away.

"Then this is Jimmy Olsen, photographer, he's great." Lois introduced as she got a hold of Jimmy's shirt as he was about to walk past them. Jimmy seemed slightly disoriented as he finally seemed to notice Clark who was already extending his hand to greet the photographer. "Jimmy this is Clark Kent."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Kent." Jimmy greeted as he shook Clark's hand. Irene almost waited expectantly for Jimmy to realize who Clark was, although she had never given Jimmy Superman's name he had stood in close proximity with him.

It shocked Irene what a pair of glasses was doing for Clark. She was about to fall for the facade herself, and she felt foolish for it. But the way he seemed to be acting now was very different from the Clark she met a couple of months ago.

"Clark is fine."

"Come on Clark tours just started." Lois stated as she began to walk away leaving Clark to rush after her tripping over his own feet in the process. "Try to keep up."

"Poor guy. Perry should have asked me to show him how everything works around here." Cat commented her eyes still following Lois and Clark into the breakroom.

"I think there's a reason why Perry chose not to." Irene joked as she returned her attention to answering some important emails about what she hoped would be her next big story. After her big Superman piece she didn't want to lose her momentum ro have others think that all she could write about was Superman.

She had so much more to give as a reporter and she felt that there was something more going on with the recent closure of Cadmus Labs after the departure of Dr. Emmette Vale. He was the head scientist and on the verge of finishing his research on cloning. It made no sense that he would decide to leave all of his studies. There was more to that story than other media outlets were reporting and Irene wanted to get a head start on her research.

Irene did her best not to be frustrated at all her coworkers who never bothered to restock the printer with paper. It was such a little thing that hardly mattered but it was irritating that she always had to be the one to reload paper into the printer.

"So Superman?" A familiar voice questioned, and when Irene turned around she was surprised to find Clark Kent stepping into the room.

Now he seemed to be acting more like himself instead of the nervous and clumsy persona that he seemed to have adopted. It was only now that she took in what he was wearing. His dark flannel shirt and tie almost seemed out of place at the Daily Planet or Metropolis for that matter. It almost seemed like he had brought Smallville with him.

"Do you not like it? I mean I think it's already caught on but it might not be too late to change it." Irene replied finding it odd that they were speaking under normal circumstances and not at a military base or Kryptonian ship.

Clark stepped closer though he still seemed slightly unsure of himself. "No, I like it."

"Are you sure.?"

Clark nodded and smiled. "You gave me that name. I like it."

Against her better judgment Irene couldn't help but look away for a moment. Now she just felt irritated with herself for feeling like she was going to blush at his words. It made her feel like a teenager with a crush. "So why the Daily Planet? Why Metropolis?"

"There's a couple of reasons. But mostly I feel that I owe Metropolis after everything that happened." He said as he reached over and finished loading the printer. Now that they were alone and he was so close to her it was difficult for Irene not to admit that she had missed him. She hated to admit that she had become attached to a story.

That she had become attached to Clark.

But what she felt was something that she had no control over. She wanted to believe that maybe it was some kind of shared trauma that resulted in those feelings, but it was much more than that. It started that day in the fields of Smallville when he told her his story.

When she realized that he was a lot more human than she initially believed.

"You don't owe this city anything." She replied although she understood his guilt. Understood why he felt responsible for all the lives that were lost that day. That there probably wasn't a day that went by that he didn't think about the moment that he was forced to snap Zod's neck. "In reality this city owes you."

Now it seemed that Clark refused to meet her eyes as he watched the newly printed sheets of paper come out of the printer like it was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen. "If it wasn't for me Zod would have never come to Earth."

"You don't know that." Irene said in some pathetic excuse to try to comfort him. It had to be hard for him to return to Metropolis. A constant reminder of that day. "He wanted to turn Earth into Krypton. He would have tried to do it whether or not you were here."

Clark met her eyes again, a storm of emotions shining brightly in his. "Look Irene about..."

A knock on the door interrupted him, and they both turned towards Jimmy who was standing in the doorway holding a stack of photos in his hand. "Irene the pictures are ready for your city hall piece."

"I'll see you around Clark." Irened said as she took her newly printed articles and followed Jimmy out the door.

She was aware that they had a lot more to talk about. That it seemed he still had a lot more that he wanted to get off his chest, but he was here now. And they had time. 

A/N: The end of part one! I have absolutely loved writing these characters and this world. And the next part of this story will definitely include more character moments before we begin the events of Batman v Superman. I just didn't want to rush the relationship between Irene and Clark and I'm really proud with the storyline that I've created. Hop you all enjoy!