[ this is where I must be honest with you and let you know that my dc knowledge outside of arrowverse is very limited, so if anything is super wrong or someone is out of character, that's why. the downside of not having the movie yet ]

☆︎

TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW? I'M FLATTERED.

OKAY, so maybe Millie put a little extra effort into her appearance that morning. Maybe she curled the ends of her hair and put on a flattering black sundress. And though she had heels, she slipped on flats because something about Clark towering over her just drove her wild.

Then, she made her way to work, not having to walk far because of how close her new neighborhood was to the Daily Planet. It didn't matter how fast she walked though, because taking the time to look nice made her late for her first official day.

Millie wanted to kick herself for falling into old habits, knowing Clark was waiting for her on their floor in the huge building. She bobbed and weaved past people before finally rushing inside, gripping the strap on her purse tightly as she made it to the elevator. Then, since she was alone inside, she pulled out her phone camera and checked her reflection, fixing her hair that had been blown around by the wind a bit. Once she was pleased, she relaxed against the wall of the elevator a bit.

When the doors slid open with a ding, she straightened up, spotting Clark right away as she stepped off. And she nearly began to drool at what she saw.

Clark had forgone his suit jacket, leaving it at his desk. It left him in a crisp, white button-up shirt tucked into his dress pants and blue tie. But the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, showing off strong forearms. His curls were in a perfect mess, those familiar glasses perched on his nose.

A smile adorned his perfect, pretty lips when he saw her coming closer. Millie had to compose herself, not wanting to openly check him out in public on her first day — not to mention she didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

Millie had been tossing and turning all night, worrying about something very important.

That kiss.

The kiss that Clark had reciprocated, but did he really want it? She'd done it without his permission, and guilt was eating away at her. Just because he got flustered by her flirting didn't mean he necessarily wanted her to kiss him.

Not to mention that when reading the employee handbook, she realized that office place romances were not allowed. She could be fired for having something with Clark, and she could not afford to lose this job.

So, she needed to remind herself to control herself and her thoughts around Clark. Nothing could come of it if she wanted to be a responsible adult about it all.

"Morning, Clark," she greeted a bit breathlessly. She was so glad he couldn't hear how her heart picked up speed from just the sight of him. "Sorry that I'm late."

"It's alright. I haven't been standing here long," he lied, knowing he'd been there for a good thirteen minutes, just eagerly waiting on her. And he'd gladly have waited another thirty minutes just to see her. "I thought we'd head this way and end up at your desk — it's across from mine. How does that sound?"

"Perfect," she smiled, excited to be able to look at Clark all day. "Thank you so much for the tour. Mr. White expected me to just figure it out on my own."

"Yeah, Perry can be an acquired taste, but he's a good boss. A good journalist — fair and moral, which is hard to find in this business," he said, shaking his head. "And first place we're gonna stop by is the editorial room."

"Lead the way, Kent."

The Daily Planet was a lot larger than Picture News, Millie quickly learned. Each office was huge within the building. Clark took her first to editorial, then copywriting and proofreading, followed by advertising as well as layout and design. Then he showed her to the media room, where their tour was interrupted.

"Hey, Clark!" a young man just a few years older than Millie called, coming over with a camera in hand. He had dark brown hair that was neatly combed back and freckles adorning his smiling face. "See you got the new girl."

"Morning, Jimmy," Clark nodded to him. Then he looked at Millie. "Jimmy Olsen, meet Millie McCall."

"Oh, I know who she is," Jimmy said with a grin. He then shook Millie's hand. "Heard all about your little rendezvous in Central City. Clark wouldn't shut up about you."

"Yeah, we really made a great article together," Millie said, keeping a polite smile on her face. Clearly, based on the teasing smile on Jimmy's face, he knew about the kiss. She refused to give him the satisfaction of blushing like Clark so easily was.

"And I'm sure you two will work well together while you're here in Metropolis," he went on, winking not-so-subtly at Clark, who wanted the ground to swallow him whole.

"Right," Clark said, clearing his throat. "Well, we've gotta finish up our tour, so... great seeing you, Jimmy."

Jimmy smirked at him. "You don't sound like you mean that."

"I don't," he muttered before leading Millie quickly from the media office.

She had a pleased grin on her face. "He was nice," she said.

"He's annoying," Clark groaned, not really meaning it as Jimmy was his best friend.

"Oh, please, he's nothing compared to Cisco and Barry," she assured him. Then she looked down shyly. "But he reminded me that I need to apologize."

Clark's eyebrows furrowed as he studied her guilty expression. "What ever for?"

Her lips parted as she tried to find the words. "I kissed you. I shouldn't have done that, Clark. And I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," she went on. "I wouldn't want anything to be awkward between us now that we work together."

Uncomfortable wasn't exactly the word Clark would use to describe how he'd felt after the kiss, but he figured his place of work wasn't the best place to admit that to her. So, he settled for reassuring her.

"You don't need to apologize," he insisted. "It was nice. Nicest kiss I've had in... ever."

And as her cheeks heated up, he considered it an accomplishment because it was usually him blushing.

"Good," she said simply. "Hate I won't be making habits of it, what with that rule on romance and whatnot."

Clark's shoulders visibly sank, realizing she knew as well about the rule that would prohibit them from dating. It ruined his mood, making him dread days where he couldn't hold her in his arms like he had that night in the hotel.

That was when Clark got an idea. A truly horrible idea.

But if he couldn't date Millie as Clark Kent, maybe he could as Superman.

☆︎

Millie was back on her balcony, her laptop on her bare thighs and warming them a bit as she wrote her first article for the Daily Planet. And she had to get it done fast, because just six minutes ago, the news reported that a Metahuman was robbing a bank. She had the Daily Planet's live feed pulled up in a window on her screen, monitoring how Superman was handling the situation as she typed furiously.

No doubt, within the hour, Perry would call her and order her to get on the assignment for a written article to go out in the morning, figuring out all she could about who the Metahuman was and what his powers were — something technology based, going off what the news was saying.

It was going to be a late night for Millie.

Especially when Superman flew by her balcony just as she was sending her first article off to the proofreaders.

She looked up instantly when she heard the whoosh of the wind that accompanied his arrival. There he was, red cape blowing in the wind as he hovered above her. There was dirt and grime covering him, a clear sign that the Metahuman had put up a fight at the bank that was somewhat destroyed on the outside.

"Two nights in a row?" Millie asked, trying to be casual. Because why the hell was Superman there two nights in a row? "I'm flattered."

"I see you got your chair built," he noted with an apologetic smile, looking at the furniture she was seated on. It was then that he swallowed thickly, realizing she was only wearing an oversized hockey jersey and seemingly no pants, the long fabric bunched up at the top of her thighs.

"I managed," she nodded, not thinking about her attire. Then she perked up a bit and put her laptop to the side. "And I got an answer for you."

He tilted his head to the side curiously. "Answer to what?"

"On what a bolt is," she giggled. "Cisco said screws were boys, nails are girls, and a bolt is non-bolt-ary."

A deep chuckle left Superman's chest as he flew closer, his feet landing on the balcony. "That's a good one. You'll have to tell your friend I laughed," he said before nodding to her computer. "What are you working on?"

"An article of the Daily Planet," she explained. "A personal piece on my stance surrounding the growing Metahuman population in Metropolis. Though given that I am one, I'm a little biased."

"You are one?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded proudly. "Yeah. I glow — that's about it, though."

"Glow?" he repeated, the corners of his lips turning up. "I'm afraid I'm going to need a demonstration if I'm to understand."

"Fine, but don't laugh," she pleaded with a pretty pout on her lips.

"At you? Never," he assured her even if she didn't quite believe him yet.

Millie stood from the chair, her shirt falling down to cover her thighs. Then she wiggled her fingers and held her arms out, a smile on her face as she slowly began to glow in the night.

Superman's blue eyes seemed to sparkle, her golden glow reflecting off of him as he stepped closer. He looked over every inch of her, drawn in by the power and warmth radiating off of her.

She couldn't help but flush under his gaze, reminded for just a second of how Clark had looked at her when she glowed. No one but them had ever been amazed by what she could do, and it made something warm stir inside of her.

Slowly, the glow faded, leaving them in the dim lighting of the streetlights. Superman slowly looked back at her eyes, his lips parted.

"You're breathtaking," he murmured softly.

"I - I don't know about breathtaking," she said bashfully. "I mean, you're the one with heat vision and cold breath and can fly and—"

"Can't you take the compliment, Millie?" he asked, his smile growing. "You are amazing."

"Thank you, Superman," she said, looking up at him through her lashes. Then she studied his roughed-up features. "Are you alright after the fight? No Kryptonite or anything around?"

"Not a scratch on me," he assured her, touched that she cared. "I was flying home when I passed and saw you out again."

"Well, it's sweet of you to drop by and keep me company," Millie said with a grin before batting her eyelashes jokingly. "But I'm afraid I've got to get to work and write about what just happened. I don't suppose you have any thoughts for little ol' me that I could quote?"

His eyes that were as blue as the sea scanned her form not-so-subtly, taking in her exposed legs. "The thoughts I have on you aren't ones that are suitable for publishing."

Shock rocked through her body — was he flirting with her? Surely not. He was the Superman, after all.

Millie tried her best to compose herself, painfully aware that he could hear her heart pick up speed and the way her breath caught. But then she plastered a smirk on her face, taking a step closer. "I'll get an interview out of you yet, Superman."

He matched her smirk, always one to shy away from media attention to protect his identity. "Good luck with that, Millie."

"I don't need luck, Superman. I'll have you wrapped around my finger before you even know it."

But oh, didn't she know he already was?