Blank Space (Jimmy/Clark, Lois, Jason, PG, Superman Returns)

Title: Blank Space
Author: Mimic
Characters/Pairings: Jimmy/Clark, Lois, Jason, ensemble.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not awesome enough to own them.
Notes: ...I don't know. Jen, why did you have to say I was the only Clark/Jimmy writer you knew?
Feedback: Anything and everything welcomed.
Word Count: 2400


He can’t help admiring the sharp angles and smooth curves of Metropolis’ architecture as he weaves his way to work. He’s humming under his breath; a song he caught on the radio his roommate won’t turn off even so late at night that Jimmy’s stopped looking for leads in his latest roll of film, and is sprawled in bed, watching the windows for a flash of blue and red.

Ever since he left Jimmy’s always been looking for Superman. He thinks, sometimes, that so many people took him for granted, and now they’re starting to see why he was so important. All except the cynics, but they didn’t get it in the first place, not really.

Lois is like that more and more, and everyone at the Planet’s learned to tiptoe around her when she’s feeling particularly riled. Jimmy still can’t believe she wrote that article.

Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman.

He bites his lip, and smiles as he steps into the elevator, riding it all the way up to the office, and stepping out with a whole horde of others. It’s always crowded, and there’s always another story to chase, a connection to find, a picture to snap.

He greets people as he passes desks, waves cheerily at a caffeine-deprived looking Lois and a grinning Richard, and the most familiar greeting of all is halfway to mind when he remembers.

Mr. Kent was the other one that left, but no one noticed him in the shadow of Superman.

A frown flickers onto Jimmy’s face before he can stop it, and it lasts as he sits down and begins pulling out his camera, film, attaching the neck strap, and firing up his computer. He never could figure out why it was only ever him that noticed what a special kind of stand-up guy Mr. Kent was.

He was a bit nervous, a bit clumsy, sure, but some of the best articles Jim’s read were written by the man, and he was always willing to give a hand to those that needed it.

Well, anyone that survived being Lois’ partner had to be made of strong stuff.

Jim smiles, good cheer back even if it came with a bit of melancholy, and a good thing too, because he can’t afford unhappiness with Lois yelling that the Chief was yelling for him, and Dave calling from the other side of the room did he have those prints from City Hall yet? And Jimmy really couldn’t help grinning, because it’s been years since he started at the Planet and more since he started taking pictures, but now he’s finally got a bit of respect at the office, and a byline on every issue.

He still wishes Mr. Kent was here to clap him on the back for it, though. Or that he was climbing buildings trying to catch the Man of Steel on film just once, even if no matter what he took it would never be perfect.



He’s running a quick itinerary of everything he’s supposed to do after he gets back from lunch when Lois comes hurrying up to him looking annoyed at the world in general.

Richard isn’t around anywhere which probably means…

She interrupts his thoughts, speaking fast enough that Jim’s head has to catch up to her. “You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important, Jimmy. I’m this close to getting the scoop on the Mayor scandal, but I need to work through lunch. Can you take Jason with you and make sure he eats only what he’s supposed to?”

It’s never a question when Lois asks anything, but Jimmy takes one look at the little toddler sitting on her hip, and his bright, blue eyes are just the right shade to spark a half-remembrance. He knows he’d agree no matter who was asking.

“Sure thing, Lois.”

The words are barely out of his mouth before Lois is speaking to Jason. “Alright, this is Jimmy and he’s gonna be eating your lunch with you. Okay?”

Jason nods in that little kid shy way, and peers at Jimmy through his mother’s hair. Jim smiles at him.

“Okay,” he just barely hears Jason say, and then Lois is talking to him again, “Just make sure he drinks all the formula in there, along with the fruit, and then he takes two of the pink pills and one of the blue ones.”

“Two pink, one blue. Formula and fruit, got it,” he parries, and Lois smiles gratefully before handing Jason over to him, along with the lunchbox.

He settles the kid into one arm, and Jason stares at him wondrously. Jimmy continues to smile at him, tucking his wallet into his pants’ pocket. “Hi, kiddo. Let’s get some lunch.”

Jason smiles shyly, and tucks his head into Jimmy’s shoulder. “’Kay.”

He’s walking down the block to his favorite pizza shop. He has his cell and Lois knows his number, so everything should be all right. He lets Jason sit next to him at one of the booths and orders two slices of pepperoni and a soda.

Jason’s okay as soon as Jimmy sets everything out for him, and he’s sucking formula out of a straw when he finally speaks up, asking Jimmy, “You take pictures, right?”

His eyes widen a fraction, because most little kids he knows aren’t too good at stringing words together, but Jason’s just sitting there swinging his feet and waiting for an answer.

“Um, yeah, that’s me,” he says, “Your mom tell you that?”

Jason nods.

“How old are you?”

“Three and a half,” and Jason says the half like it’s the most important part. Jimmy grins. “How old are you?”

He chuckles. “I’m twenty.”

“That’s old.” He makes a face, and Jimmy tells him to eat his broccoli, to which Jason makes another face. “I don’t want to.”

“Your mom would kill me if she found out you didn’t,” Jimmy says, mostly seriously. It sounds like something the new mother various of Lois Lane would do.

Jason pokes one of the little trees.

After a second Jimmy plucks one up and eats it, Jason stares at him, eyes wide again, and Jimmy swallows, sticking his tongue out at the end. “There, I did it. Now you have to.”

Jason stares at him for another couple seconds, but eventually eats the rest of the greens. He asks Jimmy if he can have a bite of his pizza a while later, and he has to get creative on excuses again, but overall it’s kind of fun. Jim’s enough of a kid himself to remember what it’s like being that little.

He helps Jason swallow his medicine, and take him back to the office. Lois is still on the phone, so he sits Jason on his own desk, and lets him play with his lens caps while he answers e-mails.

Lois is really lucky having a kid like that, he thinks, as Richard returns and takes him back, looking embarrassed and thankful all at once. They were both really lucky.



“Did Lois Lane just try to lock us in a closet?”

Michelle worked the entertainment section, mostly. She was young and pretty, and her suit jackets always matched her blouse and her makeup perfectly.

Jim asked her out for coffee a couple of times, and she said yes even though both of them knew they weren’t really each others type. He had no clue what his type was supposed to be, but Michelle wanted to marry a lawyer.

He laughed, swinging the set of keys that got them out of the closet around his finger. “Yeah, she’s trying to get me back.”

“For what?” Michelle’s eyes sparkle with interest, and Jimmy stares.

He wonders when the last time he heard a voice not razor sharpened by reporting was, and can’t think beyond his eleventh birthday party. He’s so used to it now it would be weird not to hear it, not to have every word spliced open a thousand ways as soon as it’s out of his mouth.

Jimmy blushes. “I er… did the same thing to her once, her and Mr. Kent.”

“Kent?” Michelle asks, “Who’s he?”

It’s a shock, realizing that Michelle’s only been at the Planet for a couple years, so of course she wouldn’t know Clark Kent.

He falters. “Oh, he used to work here a few years back.”

Michelle nods, satisfied with the reply.

Jim adds, impulsively, “He was a real stand-up guy, Mr. Kent.”



He can’t hardly believe it, even though he’s staring straight at the television screen and it’s all live, and the rest of the world seems as silent as he is.

Superman is back. He caught the plane that would have got Lois killed, and now he’s standing there for the entire world to see.

Jim’s heart won’t stop thundering in his chest, and he turns to look for Mr. Kent but the man’s slipped off again. He almost forgot how he would always do that.

The reporter giving the story on screen catches Jim’s attention, and a second later he’s tearing off to the Planet.

His heart is still pounding, but somewhere between the subway and the office he’s transformed from shock to joy, because Superman is back and that just screams that everything going to be okay again.



Everyone is working late these days, more so than a lot of them are used to, but Jimmy remembers it from when Superman showed up the first time. It’s different, of course, but the basics are the same.

Lois and Clark are paired up again, plus the extra tension, and Jimmy tags along half the time to make sure Lois doesn’t get killed.

He’s looking at prints now, criticizing them, trying to pick out the best and worst of them so he knows how to hand them to the Chief the next day. It’s quieter now that night has fallen and half the lights are off. Everyone is whispering, it seems, and if Jim looks up he knows he’ll see Jason curled in his dad’s office chair, asleep.

Jason is a great kid, and Jim knows he’s saying that partially because he reminds him of himself, in that they’re both growing up at the Planet.

It’s been a long time since Jim first started working here, and hopefully it’ll be a longer time more. If he doesn’t get thrown off a building or shot by Lex Luthor.

Lois is always dragging her coworkers into that type of danger.

He shakes his head, and drags himself out of his thoughts, looking out over the bullpen. Lois is reading a print out, possibly a fax, and tapping her nails rhythmically against his chin. Richard is arguing with the Chief over every little detail of the paper, and… Mr. Kent is typing steady but quick as lightning at his desk.

He looks up after a moment, like he could feel Jimmy looking. They exchange waves, and Mr. Kent mouths that he’s just finishing up. Jimmy nods back, holding up one of his prints.

They both grin at each other, and Jim feels like laughing enough that his whole chest swells.

Mr. Kent’s always been able to do that to him. He shuffles his prints together, and sets them away in his desk, before wandering over to Mr. Kent’s desk to watch him as he finishes up his article.

It’s a bit of trip, watching him work, fluid movement and the light of the computer makes his eyes positively glow blue behind his glasses. Jimmy’s fingers twitch to reach out and take them off, and he hides it with another smile.

“Was there something you needed, Jimmy?” Mr. Kent asks, the tap of the keys dying away as his fingers still and he stares up at Jimmy.

“Nothing much, Mr. Kent,” he says, before he’s cut off.

Mr. Kent is smiling sheepishly at him. “Call me Clark, Jimmy.”

He feels himself returning the smile. He’s always so darn nice to everyone that Jim can’t help thinking he’ll make some lady very lucky, before his eyes catch on Lois before his brain can think it through and whatever he was going to say dries up in his throat.

Clark waits for him, fidgeting with his glasses until Jim finally says, “Sorry, Clark, sure thing. I wanted to know if you wanted to grab some coffee,” he pauses, adding hastily, “With me. I mean. Um. I mean --“

“At this time of night?” Mr. -- Clark, cuts him off.

Jimmy blushes. “Well, there’s always decaf, but I don’t think anyone around here sleeps much these days.”

He catches Clark frown a little at that, and he agrees, voice deeper than Jimmy’s used to, “No, I suppose not.”

“Does that mean you’ll go?” He could kick himself for sounding so stupid, but Clark just smiles.

Jimmy’s remembering all the time how nice he is.

“Let me get my coat.”

“I have to get my bag, too,” Jimmy lets him know a second before retreating to his desk.

He and Mr. Kent give their goodbyes to everyone still there, and Michelle asks him about lunch tomorrow and he can’t stop himself from blushing even though he doesn’t know why. He tells her yes, simply, and Clark gives him an odd look.

“We’re not…” He gestures, not wanting to say the words.

Clark raises a eyebrow, but nods.

He stumbles when they get to the elevator, and Jimmy throws some forgettable quip out that isn’t nearly as important as Clark’s blush, or the fact that he doesn’t let go of Jimmy’s hand on the elevator ride to the lobby.

“Did you have somewhere in mind?” Mr. Kent asks, looking around Metropolis like it’s going to eat him alive.

Jim grins. “It’s a couple blocks from here. Good coffee, nice music. Better than Starbucks. I want somewhere less crazy, you know, you never told me much about your trip.”

“My trip,” Clark’s eyes have that unreadable look again, one that Jimmy thinks he’d be famous for if he wasn’t so good at blending into the background. “I’d rather go somewhere more private… if you really want to hear about it.”

“Of course I do,” he starts to laugh, but Clark’s eyes are dark and shining and serious, and so he says, instead, “I have the apartment to myself tonight.”

“Just point me in the right direction.”

Jim takes him by the arm, and points.