Disclaimer: All Superman characters belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.

Chapter I : Ab ovo

For Elizabeth Sanders, every morning was an out of body experience, from rising with the early sun to trudging into the shower to managing a grab for a cereal bar from her kitchen counter. Her brain had its habit of sleeping in, or at least until she fueled it with caffeine; thus, every action her body made was purely programmed. If forced to remember the events from six thirty to eight, she would only recall a haze of goose-down softness and a hot spray of water.

Well, that's what her mornings were like ever since she moved to the bustling city of Metropolis a month ago. Even though she moved from Chicago, a city working on short hours of sleep and jumbles of people, she never had to wake up so early. The Chicago Tribune allowed her to go into work at ten at the latest, but the Daily Planet was not so lenient. Elizabeth was a new journalist there, and being a goldfish in a pond of sharks, she didn't have much of a confident composure with all her new colleagues, much less asking for a little bit of morning time. Granted, most welcomed her warmly, but she couldn't help feeling shy every time she walked into the newsroom.

Today was no different. Elizabeth juggled her coffee in one hand and her briefcase and coat in the other as she made her way into the Daily Planet's office. The regular hustle and bustle was stampeding all around her as people herded out the elevators and to their designated places for the day, and she paused as she took everything in, as she did every morning for the past three weeks. The clatter and fast-paced tone of the office was a familiar environment to her, and she's been a veteran journalist for more than five years, so once she stepped into the world of Metropolis and into this newspaper, she had a strong grip on handling things that were thrown her way.

Just like now.

"Sanders!" Perry White's voice bellowed across the whole entire newsroom and Elizabeth blinked as she quickly walked down aisle.

"Yes Chie—Mr. White?" she caught her tongue before she called him by the nickname most everyone used around here. She was still a newbie, so she was sure that she wasn't privileged to be using that name she quickly absorbed into her daily observances her first week.

"You're late! There's a meeting in the boardroom, now! Get in there! You too, Kent!" he shouted before turning around and walking towards the conference room.

Elizabeth frowned and tried to recall a conference meeting being mentioned yesterday. And for the record, she wasn't even late. She glanced at the clock and saw that she was ten minutes early.

"Conference meeting . . .?" she muttered as she turned to drop her things at her cubicle.

But just as she turned to the left somebody was walking by and not aware of her surroundings prior to moving, the arm that held her coffee was whammed into her chest as it collided with the person, sloshing coffee over her blouse.

Elizabeth took a step backwards and held her arms away from her and looked down as both she and the person apologized at the same time.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh geez, I'm so sorry, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth looked up at Clark Kent who was hurriedly grabbing a handkerchief from his trousers pocket, looking very bashful. He held the white handkerchief out for her and she smiled as she sidestepped him, throwing her coat and briefcase on her chair and tossing the offending paper coffee cup in the waste bin underneath her desk. She turned to him and took the hankie from him, looking down at the damage done.

Of course, she chose the most expensive silk white blouse she received for her birthday last year to wear today. Of all trivial days, she had to choose this one. She dabbed at her blouse, soaking up most of the liquid, but the stain wasn't going anywhere. She hid her upset, just so Clark wouldn't feel so bad. She had noticed that he was such a quiet but very nice guy, and it seemed that he didn't take things lightly. He did offer her his handkerchief, after all.

Clark was fidgeting as he guiltily watched Elizabeth try to clean up the stain on her nice blouse. "I'm really sorry, Elizabeth. I—I was in such a hurry and I didn't see you turn . . . is there anything I can do? I can go run and buy you some club soda," he stammered and Elizabeth laughed a little, dropping her hand.

"Clark, it's fine. What's another shirt, you know? At least it'll give me incentive to go on a shopping spree," she said and smiled when Clark's lips quirked up just a bit. Since first meeting him the first day of work, she always found him humbly attractive. Especially when he smiled.

"Are you sure?" he asked tentatively and she patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. I wasn't looking where I was going either so don't put the blame all on you. And there's a meeting and a not so happy boss waiting for us, am I right?"

He nodded and after giving him one more hopefully comforting smile, she turned and walked towards the conference office. She and Clark snuck in quietly while Perry was listing off various stories that needed to be covered that day, but they didn't have much luck in hiding from the attention of Perry or their coworkers.

"Where the hell were you two?" he bellowed and they both flushed as questioning eyes peered at him and her shirt.

Elizabeth recovered enough from her humility rush to open her mouth to try to explain. "I'm sorry, Mr. White. You see—"

"No time for explanations. Anyway, back to what I was saying. Lane, you're going to cover the election and the new Mayor Kilner. Johnson, you cover the new regulations of the transit system. Kent, you go and follow up on the reconstruction of Metropolis." He then looked over at Elizabeth and pointed at her. "Sanders!"

"Mr. White?"

He thought for a moment on what story to give her and Elizabeth waited anxiously. For the few weeks she's been working for this newspaper, she's been subdued to working inside the newsroom and editing articles, and she was excited to finally get a real story she could write.

"As the newest journalist to join the team, I'm giving you the unofficial mascot of Metropolis. You're going to take on Superman." At everyone's shocked silence, Perry continued. "You're going to get an exclusive interview with Superman."

Everyone then turned with wide eyes as they stared at Elizabeth with a high interest and astonishment.

And she knew why.

She glanced around nervously and her embarrassment heightened when she caught the hard stare of Lois Lane, the renowned journalist who knew more about the Man of Steel than anyone else, and who also took on any interview with Superman. Back in Chicago, Superman was of course a treat to write about, but he wasn't on the front cover everyday. He rarely came to her old city and the excitement of watching him save the day was just a fleeting sensation for the new Metropolis resident.

But here in Metropolis, the man was an idol. Before Elizabeth came to work for TheDaily Planet, she skimmed through old issues and found that the centering topic was almost always about Superman and his good doings, except for the five-year gap when he supposedly went on a hiatus. As interesting as this hero was, he wasn't number one in her book of people.

During her first week, she learned that any sightings of the Man in Blue were precious material and any saving he did was always recollected. WGBS-TV habitually broadcasted about Superman saving the world yet again, and Elizabeth was awed at how much these people adored their local superhero.

After swallowing the humility of not only being forced into an unknown and mostly untouched territory, but leaving an impression with her soiled shirt, Elizabeth cleared her throat.

"Um, Mr. White?" she asked and everyone kept staring.

"What is it?"

She bit her lip. "Exactly how am I going to go about getting the attention of Superman? Um, can I get his number?"

Laughs erupted around the office at her ridiculous yet innocent question. Even Lois smirked.

Perry shook his head and chuckled. "If you can find out that he actually has a phone, then yes. But I'm afraid that you'll have to seek him out. Ask Lois; she'll know how to call him." He turned his sharp eyes to the quiet woman sitting down. "Lane, I expect you to help Sanders with contacting Superman."

Lois nodded once but her expression was surly, and Elizabeth didn't think that she'd be able to get a civil answer from her.

She raised her hand. "Actually, Mr. White, I don't think that I'm fit to do this interview with Superman."

"Why the hell not?" he barked.

She squeezed the balled up handkerchief in her hand and let out a short breath. "I mean, I'm new here, and I have no experience with Superman nor have I ever covered any incident that he saved. I'm completely clueless about him, other than what I heard about around the office or the news broadcasts."

"So?"

She frowned and shrugged helplessly. "Well, what am I supposed to say?" she asked, feeling very small in front of everyone. Great, her first assignment and she already wants to give it up.

Perry shook his head. "That's up to you to decide. And so, this meeting is over. Everyone, get to it! I want your stories by the end of the day!" Everyone started filing out the door. "Sanders!"

Elizabeth stopped and looked back at him, raising her eyebrows.

"I expect you to have your interview done by tomorrow night, and I expect the story the day after."

She nodded and shuffled out of the office and to her cubicle where she found her coat haphazardly sprawled on her chair with her briefcase on top. She placed her coat over the back of her chair and sat down as she rummaged through her briefcase, retrieving a notepad and a pen. She glared down at her blouse and regretted not having an extra pair of clothes. Her first meeting and she made a total fool of herself.

Fifteen minutes later Elizabeth tapped her pen against the blank page of her steno pad, wondering how in the world she was going to get an interview with the Superman. Obviously she couldn't look him up in the phone book, and she couldn't go around asking people if they've seen him around, as she suspected them to direct her towards the sky.

Though there is a way of getting his attention . . .

Elizabeth tinkered with the idea of purposely putting herself in danger and catching Superman's attention. She could hang off the side of the building, or run in front of a speeding car, or maybe attempt at drowning.

She cringed and rolled her eyes. She was no idiot; she would never risk any of those voluntarily, and besides, she was too chicken to even try.

Her eyes roamed around the bullpen and settled on Lois Lane sitting at her desk looking clearly upset. Elizabeth had enough experience that her reporter's eye along with woman's intuition caught on that Lois was upset that she was assigned an interview with Superman. It seemed to her that no one else ever had an interview with him before as they were without being said Lois' territory, and Elizabeth had no choice but to step into it.

She sighed and decided to go ahead and risk getting her head bitten off by Lois rather than getting it bitten off by Perry at the absence of her article.

She straightened her blouse and walked across the floor towards Lois' desk. Upon arriving, the fierce reporter looked up and raised a slim eyebrow, questioning Elizabeth with her hard eyes.

"What do you want?"

Elizabeth bit her lip and fidgeted with her hands, fearing the woman sitting in front of her. "Uh, Lois . . . I—I know that you're upset that I have an interview with Superman—"

Lois interrupted, "I'm not upset."

Elizabeth gave her a cagey glance. "Are you always so frightening in the mornings, then?"

Lois pursed her lips. "I'm having a bad morning, that's all."

"Look, as much as I know I should be jumping up and down at the prospect of talking to Superman, I'm not. I mean, of course I appreciate what he does and how much of a good person he is, but it's just that . . . I know you've always interviewed him in the past and now me, a total novice at all this, is doing it. I just . . . I need your help, Lois. Please. I really don't want to be fired when Perry sees a blank article come Thursday. It's my first story and already I'm freaking out—God, I can't seem to do things right here." She shut her mouth after her rambling and flushed heatedly knowing that she sounded pitiful.

Much to her surprise and utter horror, Lois Lane laughed. Elizabeth stared at her and waited as Lois covered her mouth with her hand against her giggles. She didn't know if the woman was laughing because she sounded dumb, or she was laughing because she was stupid enough to even ask her. Elizabeth awkwardly stood there, gnawing at her bottom lip.

After a moment, Lois' giggles were completely subsided, but she now had a slight smile on her face.

"I'm sorry for laughing, Elizabeth. And I'm sorry if I came off looking pissed. Yes, I was upset that you were taking on Superman, especially since you've only been here for less than a month, but when you asked for my help, looking so sincere, I can't help feeling sorry for you," she explained and Elizabeth visibly relaxed, a small smile curving her mouth. "I shouldn't have been angry in the first place, anyway. You didn't choose this story and besides, it's not like I have a claim on the guy."

Elizabeth begged to differ. It was obvious that Lois Lane was Superman's personal press secretary for a reason.

She nodded. "Well, it's okay. I'm just glad you're not kicking me to the curb here."

Lois grinned. "Not anymore, I'm not." She laughed and swung her hand out. "So, what is it that you need help with?"

"Firstly, knowing where to find him. I was going through the possible incidents that I could put myself in—he would come after me, right?" she asked skeptically.

Lois rolled her eyes. "Of course. And it'd be suicide if you actually went through with those actions." She then looked askance at Elizabeth. "You're not going to do them, are you?"

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "No! Most definitely not. But I thought that . . . you know, if he doesn't have a business card, he'd come at an emergency," she said. She was sincerely clueless on going about requesting Superman's presence.

Lois shook her head, smiling at the young and naïve woman. "Superman does hear everything, you know." She shrugged. "You just have to call for him."

Elizabeth's brows furrowed. "Just call out his name? And he'll heed to that beckon? Wouldn't more people misuse that?"

"I'm sure they have. But Superman isn't stupid. You know what, call his name out loudly to get his attention, and add in that Lois Lane told you to call for him. He'll come swooping in."

"Okay. Call out for him. So then what do I say when I actually talk to him?"

Lois looked at her starkly and said, "I'm not going to spoon feed you your interview, Elizabeth. Just ask him whatever you want, but don't make it personal. It's going to be pretty vague, but I'm sure you can manage. I'm fairly certain that Chicago Tribune's once leading journalist can manage her way through a simple interview with the Man of Steel, right?"

Elizabeth let out a puff of air and nodded gravely. "Yeah, she can. Thanks, Lois."

"No problem." Her chair swiveled back towards her desk. "Now I'm going to kick you out of my personal space so I can get back to work."

Elizabeth nodded and turned away, satisfied and relieved to have Lois not harbor any bad feelings towards her. Though she was still unsure about having to scream out Superman's name, at least she didn't have to reconsider for another quick second pushing herself in front of a green traffic light. Now, all she had to do was compile a list of questions she should ask him. It would take her without doubt the whole day for that endeavor.

Elizabeth took a detour going back to her desk and made her way towards the coffee station, still needing that caffeine flow for the day, though she'd opt to have it in her digestive system than on her.

There was a line so her attention strayed to the monitors suspended from one of the many columns around the newsroom and the news that was currently playing, recalling an incident that happened twenty minutes ago. It was no surprise as she saw red and blue zoom across the sky and into a burning house emerging mere seconds afterwards carrying two small children and also what looked to be a bowl filled with water and a goldfish. And then suddenly, the fire was extinguished before the fire trucks even arrived and then the reporters were all trying to get Superman's attention as he sped back off to more saving. Elizabeth smirked at his noble valiancy. A goldfish, huh?

Nonetheless, she was no less amazed at how easy it seemed for him to be the hero, never in fear of neither a person's safety nor of his own. However, Elizabeth found in her research that a crystal called kryptonite was the only thing deadly to him. And if she recalled a few months earlier, there were bouts of that very crystal in various parts of Metropolis. She hoped that they were all retrieved.

Still turned toward the television screen, Elizabeth peripherally noticed that the line had decreased, so she turned around to move forward, only to have no luck in doing so without complaint from her grace.

She collided with an arm and the strong scent of fresh coffee under her nose was the only indication that this wasn't going to be a clean collision. As quickly as she ran into the person, she took a quick step backwards and her hands rushed to her mouth as she apologized again, coincidentally along with the other crash victim.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!"

"I'm sorry!"

When the familiar color of the wool sleeve caught her attention, Elizabeth's eyes flew upwards and met with the same blue color as she did earlier. Clark was looking apologetic and amused and she quickly went towards him.

"Oh no! Clark, I'm so sorry! Oh, your vest is stained now! Let me go get some napkins—oh wait, here!" She produced his handkerchief and immediately moved forward to dab at his torso, the act completely skipping the approval of her brain. Once she realized that she intruded in his personal space without permission, she blushed deeply and drew back, giving Clark a wide-eyed look that was not unlike his surprised one.

"God, I'm sorry, Clark. I didn't mean to step up and touch you without asking; I was in a rush and I wasn't thinking and my hand just acted thoughtlessly," she babbled, stopping only when Clark interjected.

"Elizabeth, it's quite all right. It was partly my fault too. I guess we can call ourselves even now?" he asked jovially and Elizabeth smiled gratefully.

"I'm really sorry though. I'm just not paying attention to anything today. Um, here." She held out his handkerchief. "You should use this." Her face was as hot as the sun, she was sure of it. Her embarrassment just wouldn't quit for the day, and it hadn't even cracked 11 yet.

Clark took the cloth from her and held out the coffee, smiling sheepishly. "I was actually getting coffee for you."

Elizabeth blinked. "What?"

"I figured that you didn't have time in the last thirty minutes to grab another coffee, so I thought I'd buy you one, but this one is no good either," he said and shrugged helplessly as he threw the cup in a nearby trash can. "Sorry."

Elizabeth smiled and shook her head. "You're too nice, Clark, if someone hasn't already let you know. You really didn't have to do that for me," she said.

Clark pushed his glasses up his nose and grinned. "I'm too nice, remember? And it's no big deal. If you want, I can buy you another one," he offered but Elizabeth held her hand.

"Oh no, I think that coffee is out of the question for me today. But thanks for the offer. And I'm sorry about your vest."

Clark smiled. "That's why I wear it."

Elizabeth laughed. "Your own fashionable bib. I think I should start investing in some."

He laughed and peered down at his vest, transferring most of the liquid onto the already coffee-stained handkerchief. He caught the time on his watch and looked back at Elizabeth. "We should be getting back to work. I have to go about town soon."

"And I have an interview with Superman to prepare." Her sigh belied the cheerful tone of her voice.

He grinned at her. "Good luck with that. Okay, I'll see you later, Elizabeth."

She waved as he started backing up. "See you," she said before turning around herself and walking back to her desk, back to the difficult task awaiting her.

She sat down and picked up her pencil, absently twirling it between her fingers as her mind strayed from Superman and towards a certain tall, blundering and pleasant man. As tall and big as Clark was, his qualities softened his physical image, and Elizabeth fleetingly wondered about his personality. He certainly was one of the friendlier ones around here; however, she did noticed that he would at times leave abruptly during work, sometimes at several intervals during the day. She was curious to know about these mysterious disappearances. She would ask, but Elizabeth also noticed that his flights were hardly noticed by anyone else, so she decided that she shouldn't bother with such information, especially if it didn't concern her in the least.

Still, the charming and humble Clark Kent was someone she vowed to befriend.

Elizabeth didn't realize that she had been staring at him until Clark smiled and waved at her. She blinked and blushed, flashing him her hand before ducking her head away, chiding herself for not concentrating at her job. She told herself to get her head together and proceeded to stare at the notepad for the rest of the morning.

Once her lunch break had come, she threw down her pencil and rubbed her eyes, not pleased with her results so far.

How is it being a superhero?

That question was crossed out and another replaced it.

How does being a superhero fare for you?

"Geez, I can do better than this," she muttered before standing and pulling on her coat. She didn't see what was so difficult about coming up with questions for Superman. Questions should be simple and succinct when it comes to superheroes. The vagueness of the topic should have been an easy enough start for Elizabeth, but for some reason she couldn't come up with anything that would seem interesting enough to write about, at least things that haven't already been said.

When Elizabeth returned from her break she was less inspired and shoved the notepad to the side of her desk. She ended up skimming through archived articles about him on the system's database and got down the things that she shouldn't ask him about. Though it didn't help her generate five pages' worth of interesting questions, it helped narrow down to a decent starting point. She spent the rest of her workday researching past articles and hoped that at her apartment she would have a spurt of motivation.

She arrived at work the next morning with a bad turnout and in an even worse mood. As soon as she got home she tried to fill her head with all things Superman as she attempted to peak her curiosity for him. But for the life of her she couldn't get more than five questions down, and it was a dwelling burden on her mind.

Once she approached her desk with a metaphorical rain cloud following close by her, she noticed an unfamiliar box sitting on top of her desk with her name neatly written on the front. She looked around to see if anyone in the office decided to give her a late welcome present, but no one seemed to be interested in her visual interrogation. Curious and confused, Elizabeth unceremoniously threw her items on her chair and carefully pulled the top cover out, a laugh promptly erupting from her mouth.

Sitting on her desk was a brand new silk blouse, courtesy of a Mr. Clark Kent.