Braedey Martin: Unlimited

Ch 4: Laying Down Roots

Metropolis

Dreadwing made it back to Clark's apartment several hours after leaving the Kent farm. From there, he easily made his way to the Daily Planet building, where he found Clark and, to his surprise, Lois. Clark gave a small smile when he noticed Braedey's trademark blue jacket. Lois, on the other hand, was considerably less happy.

"Where were you!?" Braedey could tell that she was more than a little annoyed with him; probably because he'd disappeared near the presence of a psychotic super villain. "After Metallo attacked, I couldn't find you anywhere! What happened?"

Braedey put up his hands in a placating gesture. "Sorry. After Metallo got up, and you said that he would probably try to kill me, I freaked out. I got lost for a while, then I wound up at Clark's apartment. I got my jacket, then got directions back here."

Lois' expression changed from worry to skepticism. "How did you get into Kent's place?"

Braedey's smile turned slightly condescending as he turned to Clark. "You might want to consider locking up when you leave home, Clark."

It was a lie, of course, but hey, Braedey figured that it would make a convincing cover.

Lois turned a glare towards her colleague. "Really, Smallville? I swear, if you were living in Gotham, you'd have been robbed a dozen times over by now."

Clark shrugged. "Well then, I guess it's a good thing that I don't live in Gotham."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I need to head home and finish my story on this new guy, Grimlock. After the Thanagarian invasion, the world could use some more heroes." She gave Braedey a small smile. "See you around, Braedey, and while I'm glad you're safe, try not to do anything stupid anymore, okay?"

Braedey gave a grin. "No promises there ."

After rolling her eyes again, Lois left. Clark began walking back to his apartment with Ben in tow. Along the way, Braedey had to ask.

"Does she know about, uh..." Braedey quickly placed his fists on his hips, mimicking a pose that he'd seen Superman make in several photos.

Clark shook his head. "No, she doesn't know who I am, and I hope that she never finds out, for her sake; I don't want her placed in any more danger than she already is."

Braedey thought about this for a moment; it made sense, save for one thing: it seemed that Lois Lane was already in as much danger as possible. From the stories he'd heard from the Kent family during his stay, Lois was always getting kidnapped, falling off of buildings or getting attacked by super villains. Knowing who Superman was wasn't going to make her life much more dangerous, if at all.

"But... you're in love with her, right?"

Clark's head snapped around so fast that Braedey could actually hear the tendons crack. "How could you tell?"

Braedey smirked. "Dude, I could see you giving her goo-goo eyes the second she showed up."

Clark scratched his head. "That obvious, huh?"

"Yeah. So, what's the problem? Why not just ask her out? You don't have to tell her your big secret."

Clark looked down at his feet. "She has a thing for Superman."

Braedey stopped walking. He blinked several times. "Okay, let me see if I've got this right: you like her, she likes Superman, you are Superman, and therefore Superman must like her too."

Not completely sure where Braedey was going with this, Clark only nodded. Braedey took a deep breath. "So why don't you make this easy and just freaking tell her who you are!"