After stealing another quick glance at Clark's empty desk, Irene was determined for it to be the last time. Although she knew that there was no reason to be worried considering that Clark was practically invincible, she could help but worry. Especially after they discovered the green rock from Krypton that weakened him.

"How do you do it?" Cat suddenly questioned, causing Irene to look up from her computer screen. Not that she had even begun to do any work since Clark had disappeared over an hour ago. Whatever threat going on in the world called him she was sure he would return soon.

Meeting Cat's spurious and excited eyes caused Irene to be at a loss of words. She really didn't know how to reply to Cat's question. "Do what exactly?" 

"Work with Clark everyday?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean." Cat replied with a pointed look.

And unfortunately it was true. Irene knew exactly what she meant. Because how could she work so closely with Clark and not feel like her heart would leap out of her chest just at the sight of him?

"It's not like the thought has never crossed my mind." Irene finally voiced out loud, her words almost a whisper in fear that Clark could be anywhere in the city where he could hear her. Maybe it was because sometimes it was all she could think about or maybe it was the feeling of having another woman to talk to that Irene felt like she could admit to the torturous crush she had on Clark Kent.

"I knew it!" Cat exclaimed as she clasped her hands together. And truthfully Irene shouldn't have been surprised that Cat had caught on so quickly. She had a tendency to be able to predict office romances before anyone else. "Angel and I were discussing it last night and..."

"Angel?" Irene questioned surprised that Cat had brought him up so casually when her own brother hadn't mentioned to her whether or not he was planning on actually calling her. By the sound of it Angel and Kat had been talking a lot. "So you've been talking to my brother?"

Cat opened her mouth as if to say something before quickly shutting it, a light blush coming across her cheeks. It was unusual to see Cat flustered. Irene almost regretted pointing out the fact that the gossip reporter and her brother were seeing each other.

"Is that alright with you? Like I mean... so you have a problem with it?" Cat asked nervously and once again her unusual behavior was almost unsettling.

Irene knew that she had no reason to object to Cat dating her brother. Afterall, Cat had proven to be a great person over the years even with her tendency to gossip. And she was happy that Angel was finally dating again. He had remained single since Mia was born, and although he never said it. She knew that he was lonely.

"Angel hasn't dated anyone in years." Irene replied slowly, though that statement was mostly meant to herself. "Do you like him? I mean, do you really like him?"

"People take one look at me and never take me seriously." Cat stated the uncertainty that was in her voice only moments before gone. Oddly enough, Irene knew exactly what Cat meant by her words. When people saw Cathrine Grant they didn't see Senior Writer at the Daily Planet and single mother. All they saw was a pretty face and nothing more. "Angel. He takes me seriously."

Although Cat hadn't answered her question, the answer that she did give was satisfying to her. Because she knew that just like how Angel was taking Cat seriously, that she was going to take her brother seriously too. And that was all Irene could really ask for.

The moment Clark had finally returned to the Daily Planet, Irene stood from her desk eager to talk to him. She hadn't spoken to him all day and hadn't gotten the chance to ask him about what had been on her mind the last couple of days.

As she was about to walk towards his desk Irene met Cat's amused eyes. It irritated Irene that Cat was able to see right through her when it came to Clark, and after what Jimmy had asked her yesterday she wondered if maybe everyone else could see it too. She had thought she remained rather indifferent about him at work, but maybe it was outside of her where her feelings were clear to anyone paying attention. "Oh shut up."

"I didn't say anything." Cat replied as she took a sip of her coffee and turned her attention back to writing whatever important email she was in the middle of writing.

With a sigh Irene finally reached Clark's desk and was happy to see that he didn't even have a hair out of place or a single scratch on him. That relief caused her to feel a little ridiculous considering that she really had not right or reason to be worried.

"Clark, we need to talk." Irene declared as she sat at the edge of his desk.

Clark looked around the busy office with uncertainty before meeting Irene's eyes. His eyes were wide as he looked at her expectantly, almost like he expected her to deliver some life changing news. "We do?"

"I need to ask you to do something for me." She continued her voice soft in an attempt to not catch any unwanted attention.

"Oh." He replied slowly as he pushed his glasses farther up his nose, his expression growing serious. "What do you need?"

"I'm going to S.T.A.R. Labs after work to see what Dr. Stone has on our mysterious rock," Irene began knowing that she would need something on Dr. Stone in order to make sure that he didn't talk about the Kryptonian rock. "And I need something on him to make sure that he stays quiet about everything."

Although Irene went to Stone for help she was also aware that he couldn't be entirely trusted. Especially not with something that could be weaponized and put Clark's life in danger. She just couldn't risk trusting him. She had been thinking about it all day and even though she knew that she could potentially lose Dr. Stone as a contact it was a risk she was willing to take to protect Clark.

Clark stood quickly, probably sensing her urgency or worry about what she was asking. "Okay, I'll go right now and see what I can find."

"Great." Irene replied just as Chloe Sullivan, one of the newest interns at the Daily Planet, approached her a stack of freshly printed newspapers in her arms. 

"Miss Miranda, here's today's paper." The intern said she handed Irene one of the newspapers from the stack that she was carrying. Irene always requested to be one of the first to get the paper as soon as they began to come off the press as she always wanted to make sure that there were no changes to her pieces.

"Thank you Chloe." Irene replied with a smile, and once the intern had stepped away she began to read the front page. To her shock she found an unexpected name printed on the front page. She took a moment to read the story about Superman defeating a new villain given the name Toyman. This had occurred just earlier this morning as a local toymaker had decided to weaponize his toys. A story that Perry had surprisingly decided not to give her, but now she understood that it was because Clark Kent had gotten to it first. "Clark!"

"What?" Clark questioned innocently. But Irene could see right through the act, he knew exactly what she was referring to.

"Perry gave you front page?"

Clark smiled as he shrugged. He was clearly trying to be modest and act like his first time on the front page was no big deal. "It was a good story."

"Yes. And it literally is your story." Irene continued, knowing that it was so well written mostly due to the fact that Clark himself had been there to witness all the events.

"Is that a bad thing?"

Irene shook her head as she looked around making sure that no one was listening in to their conversation. Luckily Lombard who usually sat across from Clark was on assignment covering a soccer game in Central City. "I guess I just can't believe it took you this long to take advantage of the fact that you are literally the most famous man on the planet."

"I got tired of writing fluff pieces.''He replied honestly, and Irene understood him perfectly because only a year ago she was in his shoes trying to be where she was today. But giving Clark fluff pieces was Perry's way of pushing him to become a better writer. It had taken Irene a long time to realize that fact, as she had always believed that it was Perry's lack of faith in her as a writer. She knew better know. Not that she was going to tell Clark that. It was something that he had to figure out on his own too.

"I'm proud of you Clark."   

Clark seemed slightly surprised at her words, but smiled regardless. "You are?"

"I mean you could have come up with a better name than Toyman." Irene added with a smile as she handed the paper to Clark. "Now go get me something on Stone."

It wasn't long before Clark returned from the "bathroom". In fact he had returned so quickly that in reality his brief disappearance wouldn't have caught the attention of any curious eyes. Yet, they had still learned to be careful. The moment Irene's eyes met Clark's from across the room he tilted his head towards the break room.

Considering it was almost the end of the day the break room was empty, which meant that it was really the only place where they could meet in private without anyone being suspicious about what they were talking about. Every reporter at the Planet was secretive, never wanting their stories to leak or get stolen. But this was so much more than someone stealing Irene and Clark's story.

They couldn't risk people becoming suspicious of Clark's sudden disappearances. Most of the time people didn't notice, as almost everyone was entirely focused on their work. But all it took was one person in the building becoming suspicious for the truth to come out.

"I flew over S.T.A.R. Labs." Clark said once they were alone, but he paused almost like he was unsure of what he was going to say next.

"And?" Irene questioned eagerly, annoyed by his dramatic pause.

"There were multiple...questionable projects being conducted there. But they..." He began, and Irene realized that his pauses weren't for dramatic effect. That he continued to pause because what he was about to say was difficult for him. "They have General Zod's ship Irene."

Irene wasn't sure what she expected to hear. But it certainly wasn't that fact that the Kryptonian ship that caused so much death in destruction in her city was currently stored away at the heart of Metropolis. She had always assumed that General Swanwick had ensured that the ship would be destroyed or at the very least relocated to a secluded location. But she should have known better. Of course they would want to find a way to weaponize that technology for themselves.

If the citizens of Metropolis were to find out that the Kryptonian ship that caused them so much was was in their city there would undoubtedly be mass hysteria.

A/N: A little bot of a filler chapter to set up what is going to happen in the next one. But trust me when I say that you are all going to LOVE the next chapter.