-In which Lois learns more about the kent family than she wanted, and "bring your clone to work day" goes horribly array-

Superboy was intrigued: those doors were moving like the ones at the mountain! When he entered, it was like walking into a large pod. He knocked against the wall and gaped in awe at the buttons: glowing. He pressed the other buttons, almost forgetting about Superman with the excitement of the little buttons lighting up under his fingers.

He hardly noticed when the doors closed. But as soon as they snapped shut, Superboy knew he was in trouble. Was this a trap? What was happening? the pod began to whirr, and he felt a drop in his stomach. He jumped at the doors, about to tear them open, when there was a ding, and the doors opened themselves.

A bustling blur of furniture and movement and noise met him on the other side. What happened to superman and his friend? Where was the door? It was like opening a window to another dimension. Panicking, he hid with his back against the wall, desperately smacking the buttons.

The doors finally began to close again. Superboy sunk to the floor of the capsule, wishing the big buzzing pod would take him back to Superman's friend.

There was another chime, making him jump to his feet with anticipation. However, when the doors opened, he was not returned to the atrium area. In fact, the noisy, bustling, world that met him looked just like the previous one. Heart racing, he was about to jiggle the buttons again, when a voice pierced through the deafening buzz.

"Hey Kent! I think Lois was looking for you yesterday," He looked across the busy room and zeroed in on a blonde person, dressed in what looked like very uncomfortable and very clean clothes. "Did she stop by already?" Superboy looked around him, even stepping out of the capsule and into the noisy room, there was no one else around him. He pointed to himself unsurely. "Yes you. What's wrong with you lately?" She stood from her desk, and turned to face him. She raised both eyebrows and hesitated. "...Clark?"

There was a ding, and Superboy turned to seen identical pair of sliding doors open to another pod.

"Stop-- hi, Cat." Superman said, pausing in his tirade out of the pod. "This is all a misunderstanding." He made a grab for Superboy's hand, which he quickly drew back. Not quickly enough though, as a fist of steel closed around it. ow! He tugged helplessly, only to realize his other arm was similarly incumbered by the --significantly less tense-- Ms. Lois.

"Cat, this is Clark's brother."

"He's just leaving." Superman tugged his arm.

"Actually, you were going to show him around the office." Ms. Lois tugged his other arm. "Right Clark?"

"Well--"

"Let's start down here." Inexplicably, Ms. Lois won the tug-o-war against superman, pulling him down the aisle of small boxy office spaces, opening the door to somewhere labeled 'rec room'. "You first, young mister."

It's not like he had a choice, as Superman's iron grip grabbed him from behind, shoving him inside. "Fast thinking, Lo. We'll-- uh, we need somewhere to put him."

"We don't need to hide him." Lois protested. "You can sit with me. Right?" She asked the clone, who just stood there, seemingly not comprehending their words.

"This isn't the place for him, he needs to be somewhere out of sight." He insisted. "Out of the way, I mean. Having him in the city is bad enough, in a busy office building..."

"He can sit with me; I'm taking him off your hands for the day." Lois snapped. "Just work, relax, don't worry about him. It's my responsibility today."

"You can't."

"Why not?" She asked, chin sticking out with defiance. "Don't you trust me to take care of him?"

"It's not that." Clark fumbled with his words, he couldn't leave Lois alone with him: What if the clone went berserk and killed her? What if he told her everything? What if the clone couldn't lie and told her his name was superboy? Ideas raced through his mind.

"Then what its it?" She demanded.

Shuffled off to the side of the breakroom, the clone had discovered a cup of coffee stirs and was holding a fistful near his eyes for inspection. For a second, it seemed he would try to put them in his mouth, Clark raised his breathing slightly and the boy looked over, fist and face dropping under Clark's glare.

"Look, he can't be around the others." Clark hissed, knowing that if the kid could pick up on a change in his breathing, he could hear him now. "You saw what happened when he met you."

The clone looked up, a bitter look on his face. "I like her."

A smug smile took Lois as she turned back to him. "I'll keep him safe. We'll work in here."

"Keeping the shutters closed though?"

She turned to the clone. "Do you want the shutters closed?"

It shrugged, quickly pulling a thin wooden stick from its lips and trying to conceal it behind his back. Clark impatiently pried it away and dropped it in the garbage. His clone glowered up at him and then turned to scowl at the carpet in silence.

"Answer Lois' question."

"I don't know!" He snapped.

"Okay. We'll close them, Clark, leave him alone."

"I was just--"

"I'll handle everything for now." She squeezed her way between them. "Go out and submit some projects before Perry snaps your neck."

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"Hey bud." She opened her laptop, stretching her fingers in preparation. "I'm just gonna finish asking you the questions I was asking earlier."

"Can I have more of the sandwiches if I answer?"

"Do you want more?"

The boy nodded. "They're good."

"Are you allowed to eat like that back home?"

"I make the food in the freezer and the boxes, but, they aren't good like that."

Lois didn't reply, tapping away at the keyboard. She opened the first article she found on child neglect. The website recounted some signs of an abused or neglected child, including: self-destructive or aggressive behavior, delayed physical or mental development, lack of medical or educational care, being dirty or unbathed, being very hungry, or not being properly supervised.

Well, he was certainly aggressive, hungry, wasn't in school, was left alone in an apartment all day, and... well, the kid was still in the same clothes as yesterday and smelt as though it had been worn a week straight before (that with his greasy and untamed hair, it was a distinct possibility).

So far, things were not looking great for the Kents.

"I think there're some bagels in the fridge if you want some?"

"What are bagels?"

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"C'mon, kiddo. I'll get you some pizza for lunch. You ever had pizza?"

"No."

"Great. you go ahead to the elevators-- you know, those doors with the buttons?" Lois asked, noticing his confusion. "I'll drop these disclosure agreements off and I'll meet you there."

Superboy followed these directions, stepping tentatively out into the bright, chittering office, trying his best to retrace his steps, eyes locked on the tiled floor beneath him.

"CK! The editing department says your link was expire-- oH." He froze, a stack of papers gripped over his mouth. "Sorry, I-- uh, I thought you were Clark."

Superboy stared at the young man, he realized his jaw was lax and pulled it closed. The man was only a few years older than him, not quite a teenager, but not nearly as old as Superman or ms. Lois; he also sported orange hair and a spotted face.

"You look like my friend." He said, more just to vocalize it than to tell the man something. "He also has the...." He gestured at the mans face. "....things..."

"Uh, thanks?" he said, looking around unsurely. "Are you allowed to be in here?"

"He's with us." Ms. Lois explained, slinking out from somewhere and situating herself by Superboy's shoulder. "This is our personal cameraman, and almost-paid-intern, Jimmy Olson. Jimmy, this is no-name Kent," She smiled tightly. "a relation of Clark's."

"Oh, hi. Good to meet'cha." He held out his hand, much like Ms. Lois had when he said hi. Superboy's stomach started to twist and get hot, wondering if he was standing out for not knowing what to do. It couldn't be that hard, could it? He held out his hand as well, waiting to see how he was to proceed.

"Wanna shake his hand?" Ms. Lois reached out and connected their hands, making him flinch from physical contact--something he only got in fights or being restrained. Jimmy raised their hands tentatively, then lowered them, then did that twice more.

They let go, and Superboy examined his hand closely, brushing his fingertips over where the contact was made. He still felt the echo of a handprint on his skin. He wished he hadn't let go, the touch felt good.

"So, uh, how old are you?" Jimmy asked, glancing desperately back to his desk.

"Almost six weeks." The clone murmured.

"He's almost sixteen" Superman interrupted, shooting around the corner, tripping and stubbing his toe on the edge of a desk. "Sorry, Steve. Sorry--" Clark drew himself up over Superboy's shoulder. He felt a shudder, this was the oppisite of the nice hand touch.

"But you said he was sixteen?" Lois asked, face lighting up for finally catching him in a lie.

"Well, he is," Clark spluttered frantically. "But since-- well his birthday is on the 4th of July, so we celebrate it at the end of August."

"Ohh, When all his school friends are back from summer vacation?"

"Ye-- yeah." He replied.

"Oh, wait no," Lois paused, pantomiming long, deliberate thought. "No, cause he said he isn't in school..." She looked him dead in the eyes. Clark looked away, he knew from experience that her eyes and her silence could worm truth out of her victims in seconds. "Interesting."

"Are you heading out?" Clark coughed, regarding the jacket over her arm.

"Just leaving early to lunch." She replied curtly. "To skip the crowds, right, kiddo?" Superboy didn't nod or agree, shying under Superman's gaze. "We're gonna get small-er-ville his first slice of pizza. Wanna come?"

The redhead opened his mouth with excitement, only to be cut off by Clark. "Thanks, but I'm taking Jimmy out for some guy time."

"Really?" he asked. "Gee, thanks CK." He turned back to Lois and Superboy. "Catch up with you guys later!"

"later, Jimmy." Lois smiled, guiding Superboy back towards the button-doors. But even as his body moved, the clone's ears stayed where they were, refusing to release from the duo standing in the hall.

"Sorry about that, kid." Superman said. now that the two of them stood alone.

"It's okay." Jimmy said. "I didn't know you had a brother."

"Oh, well, uh, it's complicated. So, what do you want for lunch? my treat."

"Oh, thanks!"

Superboy's heart was beating triple time. 'maybe he isn't ready for a kid' Wally had said, soda can dangling from his loose hand 'if he's being an a-- a jerk to you, it's probably cause feels guilty for not liking kids'.

"Of course. How about heading to that sushi place you like? It'll have to be close to the office in case... incase something happens and Lois needs us."

Ms. Lois was saying something to him, but his superhearing refused to retract, no matter how hard he willed it, focused with clarity on the other kryptonian.

"Sure thing! thanks Clark!"

"It's been a tough week," A soft sigh from Clark. "I would gladly spend a little time with you, to relax."

"Yeah, my week's been a lot too."

"Has it? What's up, son?"

The entire world froze, his soles melted to the floor. Ms. Lois pushed against his chest, speaking unsteadily. The frozen world exploded with noise, he didn't know how much was his; he didn't even realize he was moving, brain lagging behind movements. There was a crack, and then a sting on the heel of his fist, and then-- several seconds later-- his palms slamming through the drywall.

"What was that?" Crash, twinge, collapsed desk. "I don't know." screams, grip, collapsed person. "Should we call someone?" Smash, crush, pain.

"Jimmy, wait here, I'll see what's going on."

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"Kid? What is it?" But he ignored her, feet planted just outside the elevator. "Is something wrong? Should I call your p--" the boy ripped past her, nearly tossing Lois to the ground. His fists, as if processed of their own accord, buried into the adjacent wall. Yells and cries of shock sounded throughout the nearby cubicles. Lois watched, dumbfounded, the boy's pupils were no more than pinpricks, and his face glowed red as a stoplight. "Kid? What's wrong?"

His fists swung like mallets, knocking in an ikea desk, which sat just beside her. "What's going on?" Steve ran forwards, trying to pull her up and away from the kid. "Someone call security!"" Lois lunged to stop him, but Steve was already flying past her, bomber jacket skidding on the tile floor.

She instinctively clutched for her phone to record the events, only to remember in disapointment that it wouldn't help. Where was Clark? Was the kid okay? Was this why the Kents were so adamant to hide him? As fears and wonders flooded her mind, a familiar paragon interrupted the sun above her.

"Superman! Thank god! I need you to help..." She froze, seeing the young boy's face be grounf into the floor "HEY STOP!"

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience." the super said, lifting the boy off the floor, detaining him, and giving her a sheepish smile.

"PUT HIM BACK! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" She raced after them, heels flying off, making to leap out the window after them. Superman would have to grab her. "He's my coworker's--oomph." She grunted as Superman interrupted her lemming behavior.

"Ms. Lane, I've got this under control."

"No, you don't understand, he's not a--" She toppled backwards from a whirlwind of primary colours, and the two were gone.