The budget meetings at the Daily Planet could go on for hours in Perry allowed them to. Most of the senior writers could spend an hour arguing with Perry why their story was worth chasing. Convincing Perry of a story was difficult, but as long as he saw some glimmer of hope he would humor his reporters with a chance to prove themselves.

Now it was Clark's turn to fight for his story. And as he went on explaining everything that he had gathered about Batman and how there figure that the people of Gotham considered a hero had turned into a figure that people feared it seemed that not many people were interested in the pitch.

"It's like a one man reign of terror. This bat vigilante has been consistently targeting the port and the adjacent projects and tenements." Clark continued to explain and with every word Perry seemed more visibly frustrated. It was a look that Irene knew a little too well. "And as far as I can tell the cops are actually helping him."

"Crime wave in Gotham." Perry exclaimed sarcastically as if it was some kind of breaking news headline. "Other breaking news. 'Water, wet.' Did you file the football yet?"

Clark sighed as he looked down at his notes, everyone else in the room was just listening silently. Most of them probably agreeing with Perry. "Why aren't we covering this? Poor people don't buy papers?"

"People don't buy papers, period, Kent."

"Perry, when you assign a story, you're making a choice about who matters and who's worth it."

"Good morning, Smallville. The America conscious died with Robert, Martin and John." Their editor-in-chief stated clearly ready to move onto the next topic.

Irene met Clarks eyes as Ronald Troupe began to talk economy and numbers. Most people began to mentally check out when Ron spoke about his column, Irene suspected that Perry did to he was only better at hiding it. But the change in topic was for the best Perry was too stubborn to listen and Clark was too stubborn to let the story go. They would have gone around in circles discussing the Batman.

When the meeting finally ended Irene followed Clark to his desk and watched as he let himself fall into his chair. It was a miracle that he didn't break the chair, but it just proved how in control of his strength he was.

"Hey don't let what happened get to you." Irene told Clark as she took a seat on the edge of his desk. She could see how frustrated he continued to be after the meeting, she couldn't blame him. "Though I would considering filing that football story just to satisfy him in the meantime."

"You should listen to Miranda." Perry declared as he approached them. Irene couldn't help but feel annoyed that he had chosen to continue the argument outside of the meeting. "But don't listen to her too much."

Irene offered her boss a forced smile trying to not seem to annoyed with him. "Got a story for us chief?"

"Don't call me chief. Benefit for the Library of Metropolis. Someone on the committee requested that Clark Kent cover it." Perry informed as he handed Clark a sheet of paper. "Probably some old charity crone who's got a thing for nerds."

Perry walked away without another word as Clark began to read the press sheet with little interest.

"Look at you." Irene said proudly as she took the press request from Clark. It was a big deal when people requested reporters by name, and the fact that someone had requested Clark meant that there was someone out there interested in his writing. She looked down at sheet to read more about the event, before a name caught her eye. "Lex Luthor is going to be there. He's hosting the event in his mansion."

Clark clearly still had his focus on the Batman, that he didn't seem entirely interested in anything else. "So?

Standing up Irene looked at Clark with a serious expression, surprised that he wasn't putting the pieces together. "So, maybe you'll need a photographer to go with you?"

"Like Jimmy?"

Irene frowned as she looked at Clark. The slight smile on his lips made it clear that he was joking, but that didn't make her any less frustrated. "Like me. Maybe I can get more information about the Kryptonite or meta-humans."

Clark sighed as he placed a hand on her knee. "I don't like you getting close to him. And I'm not saying it because I'm jealous, I just mean..... if he is as dangerous as you think he is then maybe you should stay away."

"We need to know exactly how dangerous he is." She argued, and he knew it was true. They needed to know as much as possible before he got the chance to become a real threat.

It always made Irene a little nervous whenever Angel, Cat, and the kids came over from dinner. With Superman always flying in and out of their apartment she was always a little nervous that Clark would forget that they were over. Or that they would find anything Superman related lying around in the apartment.

"So where's Clark?" Angel asked as he leaned against the counter. No matter how much Clark had proved otherwise, it was like her brother was trying to find some kind of flaw. Her brother didn't like that Clark had a tendency to disappear, but that was because he didn't have the full picture,

"He... had to drop something off at the post office. He should be back soon." Irene quickly dismissed as she contused to was the vegetables that Cat had brought over. She had gotten very good a lying, though she had to admit that lying to her brother wasn't easy.

Cat stood beside her preparing some other ingredients for the dinner she had planned. "Heard you and Clark are going on vacation in two weeks."

"Where are you two going?" Her brother continued to question as she began to cut the vegetables with Cat.

"We haven't thought that far out yet." Irene admitted knowing that she must sound crazy. They requested an entire week off to go on a vacation that they didn't even have planned. They still hadn't decided where they wanted to go, or what the itinerary was going to look like. It was all kind of frustrating considering that Irene like having things planned out, but they had just been so busy focusing on other things that they really hadn't continued to discuss the trip. "Its all so last minute."

"I have to tell you something but you have to promise not to tell Clark."

"Cat..."

"She has to know." Cat quickly interrupted before Angel even had the chance to argue. And seeing the nervous look on her brother's face and the excited look on Cat's made everything so confusing.

"Know what?"

"I'm only telling you this so you can prioritize figuring out what to wear." Cat began as she looked over at Angel to make sure that he wouldn't get too upset at her. "Clark came over a week ago to talk to Angel."

Now Irene couldn't help but feel anxious. She didn't like not knowing things, or being out of the loop. She especially did like that apparently Clark was keeping something from her, he told her everything. "Why?"

Cat and her brother shared a quick glance before he met Irene's eyes. "Clark came because he wants to propose and he wanted my blessing. Which I have to admit cleared any doubts I had on him."

Her brother continues talking but none on the words seemed to register in her mind as she just looked at him in shock. She didn't even have chance to process what he had told her before a loud gasp from Cat snapped her out of her state of shock.

Following Cat's eyes she looked down at her hand realizing the blood was flowing from her finger. It wasn't until she saw the cut along her finger that her mind registered the burning hot pain from it.

"Oh my god!" Cat exclaimed as she took the knife away from Irene.

"Damn it!" Irene muttered as she grabbed one of the towel that were hanging off the stove to wrap her hand in. She wasn't the type to be afraid of blood, but she definitely didn't want to know how bad the cut was. But from the blood already seeping through the thick cloth she knew it was bad.

A couple moments later the front door opened and Clark stepped inside making his way over to her.

"Hey, what happened?" Clark questioned as he attempted to take a look at her hand. "Honey what happened?"

Irene had attempted to hide it, but she knew better as she let him take her hand in his. "It's just a small cut."

"Irene this is going to need stitches." Clark told her as he looked down at her hand. It was still wrapped in the rag, but of course he could see through it and assess just how bad the cut was.

"Its fine." She quickly dismissed not seeing how a cut on her finger could be considered serious at all.

"Irene he's right you need to go to the hospital." Angel urged and she knew that there was no point in arguing. Admittedly she mostly felt embarrassed ending up in the ER for cutting vegetables, she wasn't clumsy or prone to accidents.

Not bothering to argue Irene let Clark guide her out of the apartment. They let agreed to let Cat and Angel stay at the apartment and lock up whenever they left. Irene didn't expect to be at the hospital for long and she felt bad for ruining their dinner.

Their trip to the ER took much longer than Irene would have liked. It was almost midnight by the time they got home and she was already exhausted. With three stitched in her hand she couldn't help but feel frustrated, it meant that she wouldn't be able to write or type as fast as she liked.

And although that frustrated her, the thing that was really on her mind was Clark. If he was planning to propose she couldn't help but wonder how long he had wanted to. Or how the ring looked like. Getting married had never been something that she had wanted before Clark, but now it was all she could think about.

"You've been really quiet." Clark noted as they walked down the hall to their apartment and Irene really didn't know what to say. He knew her extremely well and she didn't want him to know that she knew.

Before she could explain away her silence the sight of a package on their doorstep shifted her focus. As far as she knew they weren't expecting any packages, she was the only one that ever did any kind of online shopping.

"What's this?" Irene questioned as she bent down to pick up the package. Though it looked more like some kind of gift considering the large silver bow on the top. There was an envelope sitting on top of it and she opened it as Clark opened the door. She was surprised to find that inside the envelope was an invitation to the Library of Metropolis charity event. "It's from Lex Luthor."

Opening the velvet box Irene felt her eyes go wide seeing the necklace that was inside. Irene didn't now much about designer clothes or expensive jewelry, but she didn't need to be an expert to know that those were diamond. "I don't like this Clark."

"Not enough diamonds for you?" He joked as he to the velvet box from her hands.

"Funny." Irene muttered, but she couldn't help but feel unsettled by it all. She was sure that finding someone's address wasn't much trouble for someone like Lex Luthor. But that meant that he could have looked into other aspects of her life. Into both her and Clark's lives. "This just seems a little too convenient."

Clark was silent for a moment as he looked at the diamond necklace in her hands. "Like he wants both of us there for a reason?"

"You're starting to think like a reporter Clark."

"Was I not before?" He questioned and he seemed so genuinely concerned that that Irene couldn't help but find him endearing.

Taking the case from his hands she tossed it on the couch, she never cared much for fancy jewelry and all she could still think about was Clark.

Clark looked slightly surprised by the gesture, but he must have easily read her intentions as he stepped forward and kissed her. Using her right hand that wasn't wrapped in bandages Irene pulled Clark closer. The action caused Clark to slightly pull away from her as he looked at her bandaged hand.

"You have to be careful." He warned her, and Irene wasn't surprised by his worry. Clark worried a lot when it came to her health, but she didn't think of the cut as any more than a nuisance.

"I am careful." She quickly defended.

"If you were careful then you wouldn't have cut yourself in the first place."

Irene couldn't help but feel annoyed by his response. It wasn't like she had wanted the long trip to the ER, or to get three stitches on her finger. "Do you really want to start a fight right now?"

"No, of course not."

"Then just kiss me Clark!" Irene exclaimed, but Clark didn't kiss her. Instead he picked her up, and carried her towards their bedroom.

Laying her on the bed Clark kissed her just like she had asked. Irene moaned softly as he parted parted her lips with his tongue as he deepened the kiss.

"Better?" He questioned, his lips still brushing against hers.

Irene nodded as she placed her right hand on his cheek and just took in every inch of his face. She knew that she didn't need a fancy vacation. She would have said yes to him if he asked her now. A part of her wanted him to ask her now, but she also wasn't in any hurry.

The life and routine that they created together was perfect.