Summary: They were both men of first impressions even though any fourth grader could tell you that first impressions are rarely ever correct.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Universe: Superman: The Movie, Superman II, Superman Returns.
Twin Stars
Perry White did not ascend to the premier post at the Daily Planet by being oblivious. He might have played the part occasionally, especially if it concerned a mild-mannered reporter on the staff, but he was not ignorant.
Perry was very aware that Clark Kent was Superman. How did he know? Well let's add up the facts. Clark Kent was never in the general vicinity when Superman appeared. Clark Kent had a habit of disappearing every so often, reappearing as Superman. Clark Kent was gone for five years. Superman was gone for five years. Clark Kent returned to the Daily Planet the same day Superman returned to save the day, yet again. Clark Kent and Superman both loved Lois Lane. Like I said, Perry White was not an oblivious man.
Perry met Clark Kent first, he was interviewing him because of an opening at the Planet. Kent wore this ill-fitting three piece suit and thick-rimmed glasses and looked like an extreme nerd. Kent was also clumsy, knocking over a cup of coffee onto Perry's lap during the interview. That was his first impression. But Kent apologized profusely and showed Perry some of his previous news articles. They were well-written: concise, articulate, and impartial.
So Kent got the job and even though he was a little more timid than Perry liked, he got his job done and really when it came down to it, isn't that all that matters? From behind his big, glass office, Perry watched Kent around the bullpen. The man couldn't interview a soul without stuttering or spilling something. He also didn't stand up for himself when his colleagues teased him for tripping over his own feet.
These were the problems that plagued Perry when he was at home, on the rooftop of his building. Perry fancied himself an amateur stargazer. He wasn't a NASA astronomer, he wasn't even really an astronomer, he just liked to look at the stars. Stars were their own entity. Perry didn't like those stories behind the constellations. That was just fantastical thinking, in his mind. No, what Perry liked most about the stars was that even though scientists spent all their time trying to explain a star, no one could ever create an actual star. In this day and age when man was trying to achieve everything, it's the unachievable that truly mattered.
A month after Kent was hired, a new superhero emerged. He flew in and saved Lois Lane from certain death and, from then on, he was known as Superman. Superman seemed to be just as intrigued with Lois as she was with him. Perry couldn't have been more thrilled, the Daily Planet was now the most read newspaper in Metropolis. This was about the same time that Kent started to vanish periodically. At first, Perry didn't think anything of it. Kent was a graceless man; he probably had to go wash whatever it was he spilt. But then those disappearances started to coincide with Superman's heroic acts and Perry finally understood. Clark Kent was Superman.
Perry couldn't help but think he was wrong in his assumption. It seemed impossible that bumbling, shy, from-the-farm Clark Kent was, is, the intimidating, respected Superman. Kent couldn't stop a bank hijacking, he couldn't even stop twitching! But Perry kept a watchful eye on Kent, nonetheless, and couldn't convince himself otherwise. Kent had the exact same eyes as Superman. Clark Kent is Superman. Perry had the scoop of a lifetime! The edition where Superman's secret identity is revealed would have to print millions, billions, of copies to satisfy demand.
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But Perry did something that even shocked himself; he didn't tell anyone. He kept Clark, Superman's secret. Even stars were allowed to have their secrets sometimes, because some secrets are so powerful that if they were discovered, it could cause a destruction of mass proportions. You think he's being dramatic but look at nuclear warfare. Scientists were able to essentially copy and make a star's energy and look at what they did with that information. Maybe this secret wouldn't destroy 100,000 lives. But it would destroy one.
Perry couldn't help but see a little of himself inside Clark Kent. Clark (you see, Perry only refers to people by their first names if he likes them) relied on his first impressions. It kept people from asking too many questions or discovering his most precious secret. Being all thumbs kept people from looking too closely at him because the only thing separating Clark Kent from Superman was a three piece suit, glasses, and a hair curl that didn't even flatten when it got wet. Really, now that Perry knew, it was a little funny that his staff full of world-renowned reporters couldn't even see the obvious. Perry knew the power of a first impression. He was gruff and mean when he interviewed anyone, that way, they knew he was the boss. They were both men of first impressions even though any fourth grader could tell you that first impressions are rarely ever correct.
So he let Clark have this secret, because Superman did so much for the world, that it was time for him to do something in return. Sure, Clark would never know that Perry kept it or that he even knew for that matter. Not all heroes could make the front page, you know.
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Perry decided to do a little something extra for Clark. It was evident that Clark liked Lois and Lois liked Superman and Clark was Superman so it really wasn't that hard to figure out: Pair Clark and Lois together. Clark typed fast and was willing to share a byline with Lois (or, on most occasions, forfeit the byline to Lois). There was an unforeseen drawback with this plan though. Clark wasn't as obscure to Lois as he was to the rest of his colleagues anymore. Now when he disappeared Lois noticed it and Perry can't tell you how many times Lois was in his office yelling, pleading to be reassigned to someone else—or better yet, by herself—because Clark kept vanishing. Perry would wince every single time she came in because he knew Clark could hear everything she was saying.
There are stars in the night sky that look brighter than the others, and when you look at them through a telescope you realize you are looking at twins. The two stars rotate around each other, sometimes taking nearly a hundred years to do it. They create so much gravitational pull there's no room around for anything else. You might see a blue star, for example, and realize only later that it has a white dwarf as a companion—that first one shines so bright, by the time you notice the second one, it's really too late.
Perry was old, okay? He had to get his kicks in somewhere so he enjoyed meddling. So Lois remained partnered with Clark and Perry could only hope that she would soon realize the truth. That she would soon see the white dwarf, though Clark was by no means small. The only reason Lois didn't tear down the bullpen was because Clark gave the byline to her, whenever she wanted. And Perry did get her to grudgingly admit that they made a good team. Lois was demanding and asked the questions. Clark kept her in line so that the Planet's reputation wasn't severely damaged when they returned. She dictated and he wrote. It was an extremely beneficial relationship, to everyone. 'Mad Dog Lane' was controlled and Clark, well, no one would want to mess with Clark because of Lois.
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Every star generates a stellar wind. You might know of this as a solar wind. Some stars produce a stellar wind that is insignificant and won't compromise its life span. Other much larger, brighter, noticeable stars create a stellar wind that is so strong that the life span of said star is greatly reduced. Perry could see that happening with Clark. Perry wasn't oblivious—Clark was exhausted between having to save the world and keeping his job at the Planet, especially after that mess with Luthor and the dam.
That's when Perry assigned Lois and Clark (known around the bullpen as Lane and Kent) to a story where they had to pose as newlyweds in Niagara Falls. It's not Perry's fault that there was a story there, was it? No, of course it wasn't. And it certainly wasn't his fault that the story just happened to be a 'honeymoon racket'. Not at all. He really hoped that Lois would finally uncover Clark's dual identities, because she's one of his best reporters. At any rate, they called routinely, to keep him updated on the status of the story but he couldn't discern a happy undertone from Lois. Then the phone calls stopped as General Zod took over the Earth, and Superman didn't miraculously save the world. But after some delay, Superman defeated General Zod and all was right with the Earth.
Except for one thing, there wasn't a story on his desk. At least, there wasn't a story on his desk about Niagara Falls. Lois didn't give Clark anything more than her usual perfunctory glance or acknowledging nod when they came back. Something did happen though. Clark's gaze lingered on Lois more than usual and Perry could tell that Clark really did carry the weight of the world on his shoulders now. Before, Clark would, could at least smile. And whenever Perry asked Lois about Niagara, she couldn't remember it at all. Whatever Clark did up there certainly traumatized her. Or maybe he just erased her memory altogether because Perry couldn't see Clark traumatizing anyone (there's a reason he's known as the Big Blue Boy Scout) even though he knew that Clark's hands alone could crush his skull.
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And then, the end of the world came. Okay, not really, but another newspaper reported that astronomers found what they believed was Krypton. This was humiliating to Perry, his newspaper didn't scoop it, and he employed Superman! It came as no surprise to him when Clark asked for a leave of absence, until further notice (even Clark didn't know how long it would take him to travel 50 million light years away) and it was granted. Perry certainly knew that the world depended on Superman and even though Superman was an alien, Clark was a human. Perry could understand the desire to visit his home planet, to see if there were any survivors (especially after that mess with General Zod).
When a star dies, it either becomes a black dwarf (an object emitting no light) or a supernova (an explosion of cosmic proportions). No black dwarfs exist, just yet. But millions of supernovas have been recorded all around the universe. Supernovas are spectacular, emitting so much energy that it can outshine its host galaxy. A supernova explodes and expels the star's material away at such a high velocity that one second a star is there and the next second, it's gone. When Superman left, crime rates shot up, higher and faster than ever before. That was the obvious effect. The one that wasn't so obvious was the effect it had on Lois.
Lois missed Superman and she was extremely angry at him. Perry guessed that Clark didn't tell her goodbye or explain why he was leaving. If Superman didn't want even Lois knowing where he was going, then Perry wasn't going to publish it. Who knew what would happen? Perry certainly didn't want to find out. I mean, he wasn't a coward, but Lois was nicknamed 'Mad Dog Lane' for a reason and Perry didn't really want to be on the receiving end.
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In his defense, Perry did not know if Clark would be returning. What if he found survivors on Krypton? If Perry were Clark, he would have stayed on Krypton and never come back to Earth. So, Perry introduced Lois to his nephew, Richard three weeks after Superman left. Three weeks and Lois had moved on. The world had moved on: law enforcement became more sufficient and people stopped mourning the loss of Superman. Life went on, business as usual, because even Superman can't stop the world from spinning.
The relationship between Lois and Richard progressed quickly. In fact, they were expecting their first child soon. It was about this time that Lois wrote a derisive editorial called 'Why the World Doesn't Need Superman'. Perry didn't want to publish it, but he knew that this was the stuff that would win a Pulitzer. You don't win one because you're a good reporter. You win one because you're a passionate reporter. So he published it and then an emergency struck because karma sucks and was biting Lois in the backside. Richard called, screaming about Lois and labor and how the baby was only eight months along.
Perry made it to the hospital to see Lois, red-faced and sweaty, holding a beautiful baby boy. Richard, proud and glowing, exclaimed that his name was Jason (Jason Lane though, since they weren't married or even engaged at that point). Perry didn't make it this far in this business only to become unaware in the last stages. He noticed that Jason Lane seemed healthy and big for a premature baby and, even more striking, was his bright blue eyes which Perry had only seen on one other person. Not for the first or last time, Perry was struck with avid curiosity about what the events of Niagara Falls. Clark certainly didn't seem like the type who would sleep with Lois as Superman and Jason couldn't have been Richard's…
Perry didn't voice his suspicions though because now he was a surrogate grandfather, something that he always wanted but he never even had time to have kids in the first place. Perry knew that when Jason grew up, his term of endearment would be 'Uncle Perry' and not 'Grandfather Perry' but it was close enough. Perry usually didn't let his employees see anything other than 'Gruff Perry' but this one time was okay. He wept as he held Jason for the first time and Lois and Richard were wise enough not to comment.
There was no doubt about it, Perry adored Jason. He was the obvious choice when Richard was going to propose and needed someone to watch Jason. Even though their union had 'produced' Jason, Perry couldn't help but feel as if this relationship was going to be a mistake.
As the years passed, Jason grew, Lois worked harder than before (particularly now that she had won a Pulitzer), and Richard and Lois never set a wedding date. That much wasn't a surprise to Perry and he didn't press the matter very much because Lois was angered whenever anyone brought it up. Even though Perry wasn't sure, he had Jimmy Olsen take many pictures of Jason. They all thought he was just being sentimental, and it's true, he was--just not for the reasons they thought. Perry wasn't all-knowing or all-seeing. But he was smart. His misgivings about Jason's true paternity were only enhanced when Jason's health problems were revealed. He was very delicate (which made sense since he was a 'premature' baby) but Perry had another idea. You know, a normal person would have given up, but Perry wasn't a normal person. A reporter never rests until they have the complete story.
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Perry was given his chance, five years later, when he received a phone call from one Clark Kent. Clark was finally home in Kansas and asked Perry for his job back, even though he knew it had been a long time and he probably wasn't needed. To say Perry was shocked would be an understatement. There were so many implications and consequences and Perry was floored by them all. He gave the job back to Clark because he couldn't take it away, even though it was going to be extremely awkward around the office for a while.
So he told the Daily Planet that Clark Kent was returning and as per usual, most people didn't care, Lois didn't even shift, and the only person excited to see Clark was Jimmy Olsen. The day he was expected to arrive, he came late. Just a little under an hour though, short enough to not be missed but long enough that Olsen already ate the first piece of Clark's welcome-back cake. Perry was busy watching Lois on television, so he didn't come out to greet Clark. When Perry did emerge from his office, Clark thanked him and Perry told him the only reason he had a job was because Norm had died, though that wasn't the case at all.
It didn't take long after that for Superman to return, probably about two or three hour Clark came to the bullpen (honestly, Perry employed a horde of idiots if they couldn't piece that one together). The plane carrying Lois had malfunctioned (of course it had, it was Lois) and Superman rescued her along with plenty others. Accordingly, Perry shoved Superman back into Lois's life because he wasn't blinded by his emotion. Lois thought she was terribly convincing, telling Richard that she didn't love Superman and she never had but she was utterly transparent. Why else would she faint upon seeing Superman for the first time in five years? And Clark still cared about her: Jimmy told him how that family portrait cracked while Clark was holding it.
But he did agree with Lois, the story (not the front page story, but a page 26 story) was the EMP. So he stole that story from her and thrust it into Clark's hand because honestly, who didn't like the idea of knocking Superman down a few pegs? Like I said, Perry was old. He had to get his kicks somewhere.
And Lois did not disappoint, she put 'Superman Returns' on his desk just two days after he assigned it. Clark certainly did not waste any time. Neither did Lois, for she was still pushing the EMP but Perry told her to focus on the Pulitzer ceremony that was that night. It was apparent that Lois regretted her Pulitzer-winning article now, but Perry reassured her. "Pulitzers are like the Academy Awards; no one remembers why you won one, just that you did."
Evidently, Lois didn't listen to him. She concentrated on the EMP and put her life as well as Jason's in danger. Neither Richard nor Clark told him about Lois's peril, but Jimmy did and now Perry wished he listened to Lois. The girl always had a knack for inadvertently getting the Superman stories and Perry would have to remember that for the future. If there was going to a future…
Richard was the one who told Perry all about the capture and subsequent events. Richard confessed his belief that Lois still loved Superman and that Jason wasn't even his son and Perry couldn't deny that. Richard had walked onto the Gertrude and saw a grand piano smashed across the wall of a room, and he suspected it was Jason's doing when Jason found Superman drowning under the water. After Lois removed the shard of Kryptonite from his back, Superman flew into the sky and then the large landmass (known as New Krypton) started rising into the sky and now Superman was hospitalized. Perry asked Richard what was going to happen, but Richard had no answer. Perry felt it was imperative that they were all prepared though, so he had two newspapers sitting on the side of the room. One with the title 'Superman: Dead' and the other with 'Superman Lives!' because it's better to be safe, than sorry right?
As Perry stared at the headlines, he noticed Richard, Lois, and Jason leaving the floor. "Where are you going?" he barked at them, though he suspected he knew. "To the hospital," was Lois's short reply. He couldn't help but smile sadly as he watched them go.
Later he accepted a collect call from one Martha Kent, who told him that Clark was sick with the flu and wouldn't be able to make it to work for a couple of days. Perry wondered what it was like to be Martha Kent, to know that your only son was in the hospital but you couldn't visit him.
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What happens after a supernova? Well, a planet can form. Another star can form, bigger and brighter than its predecessor. But before any of this can happen, there's a cloud of dust and debris. It might last for a few months to a few million years. But it will rebuild, reform. No one knows when or why or what, the only thing they are sure of is that it will rebuild.
Tuesday morning dawned bright and warm, as if the world knew its savior was well. All around the world, people celebrated and Perry was glad that he was able to rip that 'Superman: Dead' newspaper up and throw it in the trashcan. Clark was one of the first at work, the first one in his office. He apologized for missing work especially after such a tumultuous weekend. Perry told him not to worry and kicked him out of his office because Perry saw Lois, Jason, and Richard coming into work.
Richard headed into his office first, while Lois headed to her desk, firmly gripping Jason's shoulder. "It's true, Jason isn't my son," and Perry could feel his heart break at these words. "He's here today because Lois didn't want to lose sight of him so soon, I think she's keeping him close because it's like keeping Superman close," Richard tried his hardest not to break down, Perry could see. But Perry also knew that sometimes you needed to destroy the walls of your carefully crafted life so you could rebuild.
As Richard left his office, Perry looked out at his staff. He could see Clark gazing surreptitiously at Jason and Lois. "Clark," Perry started quietly, because he knew Clark could hear him anyways, "You should tell her the truth. She can handle it. In the meantime, you might find something of interest in the top shelf of the closet."
And Perry turned around, knowing that Clark was probably gazing at him with amazement etched onto his face. Perry turned around, knowing that Clark would find photo albums of Jason's young life in the top closet. And Perry turned around, knowing that sometimes, when you finally notice the white dwarf, it might just be in time to save him.
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Notes: Usually, I have trouble believing Perry White would know about Clark's alter-ego without telling the entire world (because I took newspaper once before I realized that I should not be a journalist). It's his job to tell the world the truth, even if they don't want to know it or need to know it. This is my way of explaining that Perry White is more than an editor. He's a person, too, and I like to believe that beneath all that gruff-ness is a cuddly, ol' compassionate man. The twin star passage is from My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, one of my favorite authors, and I don't own it, so don't sue! What do you think?