Miss. Morix

5

I banged on the door as hard as I could, gripping the newspaper in my other hand tightly. Eventually Clark answered the door.

"What's a matter!?" He seemed alarmed.
"Where is –" I saw Lois standing in the apartment and rushed past Clark.
"Mira! I'm so glad you're here! I wanted to ask you—" I grabbed her in a hug before she could finish her sentence.
"What is this!? Are you okay!?" I held up the newspaper, waving an article, stating her recently being held hostage due to her journalism interviewing. Apparently the photographer she was with had a tracking device in their camera.
"Me? I'm fine. Actually, can you look at something for me?" She brushed it off as if it wasn't worth discussing.
"Lois! You were held hostage! Captive!"
"Yet I'm still here! I'm alive and well!" I rolled my eyes at her, turning to Clark.

"And you! You know they're blaming you? They think you're responsible for casualties!" I told him, pointing a finger his way.
" I saw it, I read it, and it's not exactly fun for me to hear about." He walked towards the refrigerator to take out whatever it was he was planning to cook for Lois and himself before I arrived.
"I just...why didn't either one of you say anything!" I must have sounded beyond shaken. "You could have been killed. And yet you didn't even tell me you were headed there to interview someone? Killed Lois. Do you understand?" My voice trailed off as I felt my eyes well up. What can I say? I was worried and the story written about it sounded horrifying.

Lois walked towards me, taking the newspaper from my hand and placing it on to a nearby coffee table. Her arms wrapped around me.
"Mira...I'm okay. Really, I am. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about any of it...and I appreciate your concerns." She smiled warmly at me, her hands on my shoulders. I took a deep breath, and managed to clear the tears before they had a chance to roll down my cheeks. "Don't you have some exciting news? I mean, how has work been for you? Tell me all about it!"

     Clark stole a glance at me and then focused back on to the preparation of dinner. He didn't have to try too hard to eavesdrop. Supersonic hearing makes it impossible for you to miss anything you're trying to be aware of I suppose. Lois was sitting on the couch next to me, facing me. She was trying to seem elated. I could tell. For a brief moment, I was ready to tell her about the past week at LexCorp. I wanted to tell her how much I enjoyed working with Lex, and just how much he's been showing me. I wanted to rant about how interesting his perspectives are, and just how stimulating having a job in which I feel confident in my abilities is. I even wanted to tell her about the Kryptonite. I almost wanted to ask Clark about it.
     But I didn't. I didn't tell her how seriously Lex took my input. I didn't tell her how motivated I was because of it. I didn't tell her about my fascination with the research at LexCorp. And I didn't ask Clark about the cellular weakening due to Kryptonite. I couldn't. Sure, Lex has made it clear the study was top secret. Which, to be honest, isn't unusual when it comes to working in research laboratories. But although that would be the defining reason I'd use to justify my silence, that wasn't why I felt like I couldn't tell her. The heavy feeling sitting in the center of my chest, that urge, slowly dissipated in to obstinacy to keep a secret; an important one. Perhaps it was only momentarily and wouldn't seem so important once I relaxed a little.
     But right now? I felt betrayed, I won't lie. It's an anomalous feeling to feel betrayed. You're not always hurt, not always angry, but an unknown equivalent of each lingers. Maybe it sounded ridiculous, but I felt uneasy about it. It was certainly possible I did because it was life threatening. Its possible feeling anxious or worried was responsible for the disgusted feelings I was bottling up. It was just unusual. It seemed immoral.
     Lois wasn't one to keep secrets from me. I mean, come on, I knew her boyfriend was Superman for goodness sake. She never lied either, or so as far as I know. Not about her personal life, not about her journalism career. In fact, I was always pretty excited to hear about what was fascinating enough to her that she wanted to investigate it. I always enjoyed learning about other people's thought processes indirectly. The more irrational they were, the more it seemed to captivate me. And let's be honest, putting herself in that type of danger never seemed rational to me. But this time she hadn't told me about it, and it almost stung. So, I gave her some general notes on how it felt to be working at LexCorp. You know, head nods and the occasional: Yeah, I'm really enjoying it. Definitely learning a lot.

"Would you mind helping me out with this investigation Mira? I think it will help convince Metropolis that Superman isn't a fraud." Her head tilted slightly. I nodded. "Great! Take a look at this." She pulled out a small and transparent plastic bag. Handing it to me she continued. "I founded it lodged in to my journal...the one I take notes in, you know? Could you possibly...maybe...figure out its origins? What it's made of?"

I studied it. It was a bullet, sure, but it was oddly shaped and abnormally heavy...for a bullet anyway. "Was your journal leather bound?" I asked her, still examining it.
"Yeah, the little orangey brown one I have. Do you want to see it?" 

I nodded again and she went to retrieve it. 

"Are you hungry Mira?" Clark asked calmly.
"A little, sure." I didn't take my eyes off of the bullet.
"You know, I think you better watch what it is you let Lex teach you. The man's a little crazed...brainy, but illogical."
"Note taken." I said sternly. He could tell I didn't want to discuss it. As I didn't think he had much room to speak to me about the potential risk taking in my life's arrangements right now. 

Lois came back, sitting defiantly and handing over the journal. I inspected the bullet hole momentarily. "I'll look in to it for you."