by
© 6-Jun-08
Rating: T
Superman and the original characters presented in the feature films, comic books, and novelization are all copyright and trademark by DC Comics, Warner Brothers, et al. I own no part of those rights, and make no money off this effort. This is strictly for fun. [p class='center'][img src='../pix/other/2009/006bestaction_WINNER.jpg' alt='winner' /] [img src='../pix/other/2009/019bestuseofsupchar_WINNER.jpg' alt='winner' /][br /]Banners by bistyboo1974[/p]
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Welcome to my insanity. This is an AU twist on the Superman Movie-verse that refused to leave me in peace. The only way to restore my sanity is to write it down. It'll stay mostly true to Superman: The Movie (1978), Superman II: The Donner Cut (2006), and Superman Returns (2006), though there will be some variations for continuity, realism and to bring the story from the earlier films into the twenty-first century. I'm also introducing my AU twist on Superman Returns, to be revealed in a later chapter. Note that as far as I'm concerned, Richard Lester's version of Superman II (1980) and the other Salkin productions (corruptions) of theatrical releases of Superman/Supergirl do not exist in this universe and are not part of the canon. Also note that my previous work, Home is Where the Heart Is, is not part of this story. That one's set in a different universe.
To get from Richard Donner's Superman II to Bryan Singer's Superman Returns required inventing some physics, which I know may give some of you difficulty. From my perspective, it's a necessary evil if I'm to stay true to the characters and the mythos. I hope you'll simply be able to understand and accept it, and move on with the story. Also note my typographical conventions: Italics for the characters' thoughts, and alien languages will be enclosed in double chevrons (« and ») instead of quotes. Think of it as my version of subtitles.
Please note that in this universe, Metropolis is not in Kansas, nor is it a replacement for New York City. Instead, it's on the Eastern Seaboard, in Sussex County, Delaware, just north of where Slaughter Beach is in the real universe. Imagine it larger that Los Angeles, but smaller than New York City, in terms of population.
Also, I want to thank my friends who encouraged a reluctant author to write this down, and special thanks to htbthomas and dandello (a.k.a. Shado Librarian) who volunteered to beta the raw text. Those additional pairs of eyes on the work are priceless, and in many cases the collaboration truly made this work better than it could possibly have been otherwise.
Now, we begin my story immediately after Zod's defeat at the end of Richard Donner's Superman II...
Saturday, August 26, 2000 10:00PM EDT
It was a quiet flight back to Metropolis from Superman's arctic Fortress. Though relieved by Zod's defeat, both the Man of Steel and Lois Lane were still too much aware of the life together that almost was - the life together that had to be sacrificed to stop the Kryptonian criminals. As much as they would both have preferred to believe otherwise, the fact of the matter was that the world still needed Superman, and he could not abandon his duty to be with Lois. The recent ordeal had also revealed just how strongly the world associated Lois Lane with the hero. Even though the tabloid stories were based on little more than the writers' imaginations, that had still been strong enough evidence for Lex Luthor to identify Lois to Zod as a high-value hostage that would be useful against Jor-El's son.
"So," Superman began sadly as he set Lois down on her terrace. "Here we are."
"Home, sweet home," Lois acknowledged numbly.
"Well, see you at work in the morning, I guess," he continued awkwardly.
"Bright and early," Lois stated simply. "Same old Clark. Same old Lois. Except..."
"Except that nothing can ever be the same in this world again," he finished somberly. "Not after what Zod did..."
"The nukes..."
"I hear their cries - so much anguish, so much suffering," he admitted, dropping his gaze to the floor. "And the news channels are now reporting that Zod 'punished' twenty-eight cities for protesting his rule - more than one hundred million dead. It'll probably be four or five times that when you consider the radiation."
"They don't know it's over if they're still using euphemisms like 'punished'," Lois concluded. She looked over at him, and upon seeing the anguished look on his face, added compassionately, "Hey! They rebuilt Hiroshima and Nagasaki, didn't they?"
"Those were much smaller devices, and not nearly so many of them," he pointed out. "There is nowhere on this Earth that people will be able to escape the radioactive fallout." He looked back up at her and continued, "The cries are more anguished that I can ever remember hearing. If only..."
"If only you hadn't been with me," Lois finished for him.
"Lois, don't say that!" Superman insisted. "If it were possible, I'd stay with you forever. But, I... I can't turn my back on my duty now. Not when so many are suffering. So many need me... I have to... you know..."
Lois nodded knowingly, offering him a weak smile as she authoritatively told him, "Go. Help them."
He flew up high above the city, watching Lois as she decisively marched off the terrace, then collapsed in tears just inside the door to her apartment. I'm so sorry, Lois, he thought. You never should have had to go through that. He turned away from the scene and began a flight around the globe to survey the damage caused by Zod. He was horrified at the carnage he saw, smoldering hell-holes now where there had once been some of the Earth's most vibrant cities. He hardly knew where to begin to help the survivors and most of the damage simply couldn't be undone. I should have been able to stop this sooner, he lamented. Jor-El was right - it was selfish of me to abandon my mission for love.
As he floated at the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere, Superman was so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of cries he heard that he had to look away, but he found no solace in so doing. His vision fell upon the moon, where the first victims had been lost. He recalled the international effort to return humans there after a seventeen-year absence, where they were to lay the foundation for a future colony. He had been caught up in the excitement himself and had even lifted some of the heavier equipment up there for them. Now observing the crushed lunar lander and the lifeless bodies littering the lunar surface, he was forced again to look away, this time shifting his vision towards the outer planets. How long had they been free, he wondered, and how did they end up here? He had begun to lose himself in his thoughts, when he noticed the reflection from deep in the solar system, where there shouldn't have been anything.
The Man of Steel concentrated his vision into the outer solar system and found the scattered debris. He eyes widened in shock when he noticed Kryptonian hieroglyphics on some of the edge pieces and recognized the debris for what it was: The remains of the Phantom Zone containment shell, which had once been prison to Zod and his accomplices. The Zone made it here intact? He wondered. How did it get here, so far from Krypton, and what breached the seal?
He mentally replayed the news from the past week and recalled a near disaster with a nuclear missile launch eight days earlier. The Pentagon's Mil-Net had been hacked and one of their nuclear sites had been compromised, resulting in an unauthorized launch of a nuclear missile. Superman had intercepted it and sent it flying towards the outer planets, towards the vicinity of where the Phantom Zone debris now was. The shockwave from that nuclear detonation would have been sufficient to breach the seal, releasing the vicious criminals. Oh, my God!, Superman thought in horror. They were free because of me! All those people... so many millions dead because of my carelessness.
He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the weight of Zod's victims fall upon his shoulders, as his mind analyzed the new information and sought to escape the guilt. I need to fix this, he thought, opening his eyes and shooting like a canon around the globe in ever faster orbits, translating into the inter-dimensional reality outside the fabric of space-time as he did so. As he approached, then surpassed, the speed of light, his incredible senses detected the warp in space-time that his faster than light acceleration created. Brief glances towards the earth and the planets revealed the double vision indicative of a temporal divergence, reflecting the difference in the planets' position in their orbits over time. He exerted himself even more, pushing himself faster, in order to extend the space-time warp bubble even further out into the solar system. He was gratified to see the Phantom Zone debris blur into double images, as it also diverged into two separate realities in space-time.
He continued ever faster, expanding his orbits to include both of the diverging Earths, which were no longer a blurred double image, but now separated by the hundreds of millions of miles along the orbit that the Earth had traveled over the previous eight days. Finally reaching his desired point of divergence, he reversed his orbits, this time only encompassing the space-time reality of eight days prior, roughly an hour before the rogue launch of the missile that breached the phantom zone.
He again accelerated in ever faster orbits, and the warped space-time bubble began to collapse and fold into the past, coalescing around the Earth's former self, and the alternate future reality began to lose cohesion and fold into the past. In the process, the broken became whole and those who had died during Zod's reign lived once more, though the consequences of the future that was could not be completely escaped.
Time cannot be rolled back without taking space with it, since space and time are inexorably linked, two parts of the same whole. Inanimate objects that had been damaged or destroyed in the future that was remained weakened where they had been broken; the background radiation was higher in the cities that had been nuked, though greatly diminished; and the former selves of those who had died had contusions from their future injuries, and some cases, traces of formaldehyde in their blood, though most would recover from those injuries without notice.
Once the space-time warp had collapsed, Superman ceased his orbits and allowed himself to fold into his former self. He experienced a brief moment of disorientation before his incredible mind processed the out-of-phase memories of his future self. When the memories of the future that was flooded his consciousness, Clark Kent opened his eyes and found himself dressed in his business suit, sitting at his desk on the Editorial floor of The Daily Planet.
Beside him, Lois Lane grimaced in response to a sudden cramp, provoked by the sudden and unexpected presence of a Kryptonian-Human hybrid embryo in her uterine wall. Unbeknownst to its parents, the child had been conceived in the future that was and dragged along with its mother's future self as she folded into the past. Unlike her colleague, however, she remained oblivious to the future that was, as the human mind is incapable of accessing the out-of-phase memories from that reality.
"Where was I?" Lois asked herself irritably. "Oh, yeah, I'm sick of this Luthor story! I still can't believe that he dragged that trial out for three years before they finally convicted and sentenced him, but now it's done. Over. Time for the next story, right?"
Clark allowed a small smile as he looked over at her. Same old Lois, he thought dreamily.
"Clark?"
"Huh? Oh, right. Time for the next story," he agreed distractedly, pausing for a moment as he accessed his memories of that morning. "Um, Perry is still insisting on that background piece to go with this afternoon's sentencing headline, so... If you want, I'll head down the archives and do the research, and we can compare notes later. Okay?"
"Sure, knock yourself out," Lois muttered, and Clark headed towards the elevators. Once the elevator doors closed, he flew up the shaft and out the roof, accelerating to the North.
* * *
Friday, August 18, 2000 10:30AM EDT
In the reconstituted Phantom Zone, Zod, Ursa and Non experienced a wave of disorientation when their future and former selves collided. Like their enemy, Kal-El, their minds were able to assimilate the out of phase memories of the future that was. The flood of memories struck Ursa and she reached out to steady herself. However, given her incorporeal state within the zone there was no firm surface to press back against her hand. She opened her eyes with a start. "I'm back in the Phantom Zone," she muttered.
"How?" Zod asked. Ursa was surprised by his presence. After their defeat and capture, the three had been segregated and kept in solitary confinement. She looked around and confirmed that she'd also been reunited with Non.
"It should not be possible," Ursa informed him. "The containment shell was shattered. From what we observed, Kal-El should not have had the facilities to reproduce it, especially not so quickly." She looked through the portal into the corporeal world, recognizing the small dot in the sky that was the Earth as it spun around them.
"We are here, nonetheless," Zod argued. "Is there a way out of this reproduction?"
"There's no way to know," Ursa admitted. She again looked through the portal and exclaimed in surprise, "We're moving!" Her colleagues joined her in observing the Sol system shrink away before them.
"Kal-El's accessed the Zone's navigational controls," Zod concluded angrily. "He still fears us and he's sending us away from his precious Earth."
* * *
Superman stood before the console in the Fortress of Solitude, observing the Phantom Zone containment shell as it moved away from the Earth at nearly one third the speed of light. "How long will it take it to return to Krypton?" he asked.
"The journey will take approximately nineteen million years," Jor-El answered. "Remember, the Phantom Zone was never intended for interstellar travel and was built solely for housing the handful of law-breakers, like Zod, who could not be rehabilitated back into our society."
"Then how did it get here in the first place, if its top speed is only one-third C?" Superman asked. "Krypton's six and half million light years from Earth and it hasn't been that long since I left!"
"The most likely explanation is that it was caught in the warp field from the wake of your ship," Jor-El concluded. "We know from your escape ship's logs that you barely made it out in time. Our Sun, Rao, was exploding as your ship translated into hyperspace. In fact, you escaped the shock wave by mere seconds. You also passed within ninety kilometers of the Phantom Zone when you made the translation, which could have been close enough to catch it in your wake. The Zone would have been released when you translated back to normal space near the Kuiper belt at the edge of this star system."
"Of course," Superman acknowledged. "Now for the other matter - I have a nuclear weapon to dispose of without poisoning the Earth, or allowing the shock-wave to breach the Phantom Zone. We know that the containment shell will be weaker now than it was in the original reality."
"I am disappointed that you chose that solution, Kal-El," Jor-El chastised. "You cannot simply fold space-time to avoid unpleasant situations. It is forbidden to interfere with human history."
"I was undoing the interference, Father!" Superman replied defensively. "Up to half a billion human beings dead, not by their own doing, but by Kryptonian hands. That was the interference and it would have thrown this world into another dark age. What's done is done, and I'm asking for your help now to prevent that future from repeating itself. How do I best dispose of the nuke without poisoning the Earth or freeing Zod? Is it sufficient to just send it in the opposite direction in space, or are additional precautions necessary? We only have a few minutes before that missile launches."
"If there is sufficient time, the ideal disposal site is Earth's sun," Jor-El concluded. "Failing that, the thick atmosphere of the planet Venus would also be sufficient to contain the blast. Kal-El, I hope you realize that we'll have to monitor the Zone and have contingency plans in place for a breach. It's still close enough to be compromised by unusually high solar activity, given its weakened state."
"I know," Kal-El answered. "I have time to get the nuke to the sun. I must go now, Father." After powering down the Fortress, Superman launched himself across North America and took position fifty thousand feet directly above the missile silo that would launch the fateful rogue missile moments later.
Sunday, August 20, 2000 - 5:30PM EDT
It was harder than Clark thought it would be, though logistically he was successful in making the minor adjustments to his behavior to avoid Lois' suspicions. While in his Clark Kent persona, he consciously made his stature even more slouched and fastidiously avoided the cross-armed Superman stance that had provoked her suspicions in the original reality. The second time round, she hadn't drawn Clark Kent over Superman's picture in the paper, or been inspired to throw herself out a thirtieth floor window to prove her theory. He was also satisfied to discover that she hadn't thought to pack her revolver, loaded with blanks, as she had done the first time around. He recalled his surprise when she had confronted him with it originally, tricking him into admitting he was Superman by discharging the weapon at him. His plan for continuing to keep his identity under wraps had been working so far.
His current problem was an emotional one - being in such close proximity with her, posing as newlyweds, and knowing what he had lost and what he likely could never have. His ever-cheerful golly-gee-whiz façade had been difficult to maintain, and more often than not, he'd just tried to keep his distance, and repeatedly changed the subject of discussion back to the assignment. Lois had picked up on it and had asked him what was bothering him more than once. Her obvious concern only reinforced his sense of loss and he'd begged her not to push him on it. I couldn't possibly tell her about this, he reasoned. She's blissfully ignorant of what we lost and free from the pain that I'm enduring. She's nothing like the inconsolable, broken woman I left sobbing on her balcony after defeating Zod. It's better this way.
Lois' voice broke into his ruminations and he remembered that they were supposed to be having a strategy session on the assignment, though that was not her current train of thought. "Why, with thousands of children falling off something lethal somewhere else in the world, why would Superman appear here - at Niagara Falls -today?" Lois demanded. "Why not the Grand Canyon?"
He'd done a better job of covering for his absence the second time around, gesturing towards the rest rooms and informing her that he needed to "wash up" before getting the hot dogs. Thus, his absence was already explained during Superman's rescue of the boy and she hadn't thought to throw herself over the rail to try to out him. However, her insatiable curiosity had her wondering at Superman's appearance. Fortunately, Clark had time to prepare better answers to her queries that the first time around. He had trouble coming up with a reasonable explanation back then.
"Maybe he was checking up on you," Clark offered. "You do have a knack for getting into tight spots."
"Just what is it you're trying to say, Kent?" Lois demanded defensively.
"N-nothing, Lois," Clark explained nervously, holding up his hands in a surrender gesture. "Just... Well, he seems to care about you and probably doesn't want anything bad to happen. So, maybe he checks up on you... from time to time."
"Cares about me, does he?" Lois remarked sarcastically. "You'd never know it by the way he ignored me out there."
"Did you expect him to blow your cover?" Clark probed.
"I-" Lois began before snapping her mouth shut. She opened her mouth again to say something, but though better of it. There was no way she'd admit to Clark that she'd forgotten about the cover and had outed herself trying to get his attention. She instead chose to glare at her partner.
"Seriously, though, have either of you considered how dangerous a relationship would be?" Clark asked, again changing the subject.
"What the hell are you talking about, Kent?" Lois demanded, crossing her arms to add intensity to her glare.
Clark looked down to avoid making eye contact. "You know... all those tabloid stories," he began.
"Clark, those are tabloids," Lois explained irritably. "Those stories are pure fiction with no facts to back them up! Everybody knows that!"
"That's beside the point," Clark countered. "You and I and Superman may know they're all made up, but some people out there consider them the gospel truth, and that includes people with a grudge against Superman. What if one of those hoodlums should target you to get back at him?"
"Clark-" Lois began irritably.
"One of you should really go on record stating that those stories are blatantly false," Clark insisted. "Maybe even file a lawsuit. God, Lois, if anything should happen -"
"Clark, enough!" Lois insisted. "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."
"But, still-"
"What's going on with you lately, Clark?" Lois asked, suddenly sympathetic. "You haven't seemed yourself the last few days, and don't tell me you're fine, or say you don't want to talk about it."
"There's nothing to talk about, Lois," Clark informed her sadly.
"Don't give me that crap," Lois demanded. "We're partners, and whatever is affecting you, is affecting me, too, so spill. What's the story here?"
Clark turned away, lowering his head into his steepled hands as he considered his possible responses. He couldn't tell her about the other reality. Finally, he sat down in the chair opposite her and offered, "This strikes too close to home for me."
"What do you mean," Lois inquired patiently.
"This," he repeated, gesturing to the room around him. "Pretending to be a newlywed. I've no reason to believe that is something I'll ever experience. It doesn't seem to be in the cards for me."
"Oh, for the love of-" Lois began irritably. "Stand up, Clark."
"Stand up?"
"Just for fun," Lois clarified. Once Clark had finally stood up, Lois continued, "Look at yourself. Potentially, this handsome, aggressive, dynamite guy capable of anything he wants to do. You run yourself down."
"Lois, I know where you're going with this and it's not that simple," Clark replied sadly. "It's not just my clothes, or the way I stand. Nobody is ever going to go weak in the knees for Clark Kent the way everyone seems to for Superman. Please, just - just drop it."
"You're jealous of him," Lois announced cheerfully.
"What?" Clark asked incredulously. "Lois, I really don't have time for this," he snapped, and he turned and walked to the door. "And we're not going to get this story finished by analyzing my lack of a love life. Let's get something to eat, and then plot out how we're going to get this silly assignment finished so we can get out of here."
* * *
Sunday, August 26, 2000 4:00PM CDT
Clark Kent sat down to an early dinner at his mother's table, as he had done nearly every Sunday evening, and he made his best effort to be good company. "I hear that your old friend, Pete, is engaged now," Martha mentioned casually. "To Lana, of all people."
"Oh?" Clark acknowledged quietly. "I wonder if that's why he called."
"Didn't you call him back?" his mother inquired.
"We've been playing phone tag," Clark clarified. "He's been pretty busy, with running for Congress and all."
"Well, I didn't mean to spoil the surprise," Martha informed him, embarrassed at the slip. "You're going to have to act surprised when you talk to him."
"I will, Ma," Clark assured her.
"Clark, is everything all right?" Martha inquired compassionately. "You're a bit quiet tonight, and since last Wednesday, Superman's been busy like there's no tomorrow. You're not making time for yourself."
His mother's observation provoked Clark to think back over everything that had happened in the past week. After his outburst with Lois in the hotel room, they had been able to complete their assignment and wrapped up the story relatively quickly. It appeared above the fold in Thursday's Metro section: "Heartbreak Hotel - Honeymoon Resort Fleeces Newlyweds." It had been an uncomfortable few days, and upon their return from Niagara Wednesday afternoon, he had tried to forget his broken heart by burying himself in his other job. Superman's activities had gone into overdrive, with everything from rescues, foiled assaults and robberies, a hurricane intervention and he had even broken up a drug ring in Los Angeles. It'd also given him a number of tips for his day job.
Perry also noticed his increased activity and immediately sent Lois to the roof on Superman detail. However, he couldn't bring himself to answer her calls from the roof. She knew him too well, and if she noticed the same sadness in Superman as she called Clark on, it would be troublesome. He wasn't ready to face her as Superman, and prayed she wouldn't need rescuing in the near future.
"They needed me, Mom," Clark said simply.
"I'm sure that they did, but you need to balance that out with a personal life, too," Martha counseled. "As much as you can do, you can't be everywhere, do everything, or save everyone. You'll drive yourself crazy if you try."
"Mom, it isn't easy... being me," Clark told her quietly. "The secrets I have to keep. I'm different than other people."
"That doesn't mean you should stop trying," Martha soothed. "You do have friends, Clark. Friends like Pete, or that boy Jimmy back in Metropolis. What about your writing partner, Lois? She sure seems to like you, from what I can tell."
Clark's expression at Lois' name informed Martha that she'd hit the nail on the head, but she chose not to challenge him on his silence. "Well, they're planning quite the festival for Labor Day, and I'm sure everyone would be glad to see you here. Pete and Lana should be here, too. I won't pressure you to come, but I hope you'll at least think about it."
Clark nodded his acknowledgement and dug into his dinner.
* * *
Friday, September 1, 2000 9:00AM EDT
Superman sped north across the Eastern seaboard and dropped down into one of the elevator cars in the Daily Planet building moments after it had disgorged its passengers and closed its doors. He had continued to bury himself in work with his other job for the past week, which also provided the tips to have given him his second independent Page One that morning, this time on an InterGang smuggling ring discovered operating out of the docks. His thoughts on the matter were interrupted the moment he stepped off of the elevator. "Hold it right there, Smallville!" Lois bellowed across the bullpen. She intercepted him halfway to his desk.
"M-Morning, Lois," Clark responded nervously. "Are you looking forward to the Holiday weekend?"
"Don't give me that crap, Clark," Lois demanded, flipping the morning's paper over in front of him. "That's the second time this week that you've scooped me. I thought we were supposed to be partners."
"Gosh, we are partners, Lois," Clark insisted. "But with Perry wanting you to get that Superman exclusive, you seemed busy-"
"Oh, don't you even-" she hissed. "Since Superman is far too busy lately to waste his time talking to me, I'm not going to waste my time waiting for him and let you take all the credit for the real stories. You're not leaving this office without me! Understand? I don't care if you forgot to feed your fish... again. I'm coming with you."
"Um, sure Lois," Clark assured her meekly as he finally sat down at his desk. "But what about the Superm-"
"Don't even go there," Lois warned angrily. "If he wants to talk to me, he knows where to find me. In the meantime, we'll bust open the next big story, together!"
"Um, actually, Lois, I'm, um, leaving early today," Clark mumbled. "I'm going home to Smallville for the holiday weekend. My, um, my Mom doesn't see as much of me as she likes, and I figured that after, um, this week's work that I could talk Perry into giving me the time off."
"Fine," Lois grumbled, teeth clenched. "But you're giving me everything you've got before you go."
As Lois marched back to her desk, Clark allowed a small smile. I can do this, he thought. She's a live wire, and an angry, determined, remarkable woman. But it's easier to be same old Clark in front of an angry Lois that the compassionate Lois. Better not get her too upset, though. I may be Superman, but even I know better than to tempt fate.
Thursday, September 7, 2008 10:30AM
The interaction between Lois Lane and Clark Kent seemed to be back to normal, though Clark wasn't quite as cheerful as before. Their joint byline graced the front page of the Daily Planet that morning, which pacified Perry somewhat. He had been pushing for an exclusive interview that would explain Superman's dramatic increase in activity, and Lois was his best shot at that. However, the Man of Steel wasn't answering her calls from the roof. Perry had asked about it again at that morning's staff meeting.
In the meantime, Lois and Clark were pursuing the gang leads that Clark's alter ego had turned up. "Your source doesn't think this one is local?" Lois questioned.
Clark shook his head. "It's an opportunistic crime. InterGang's taking the heat, and a lot of their crews are being watched, so this competitor from L.A. thinks he can move in."
"Any idea who the competitor is?" Lois asked thoughtfully.
"Not with certainty," Clark admitted. "The L.A. detective who knows the gangs from that area the best isn't known for a good relationship with the press. He thinks the press has given his department a raw deal, glorifying alleged police abuses and ignoring all that they've done to bring the gangs under control. He won't return my calls."
"Give me the number," Lois answered. "I'll try."
After Clark handed Lois a post-it note with the phone number, he was distracted by a hypersonic sound similar to what Lex Luthor had used to lure Superman into his kryptonite trap three years earlier. However, this time it was the voice of Jor-El that he heard, rather than Lex Luthor. "Kal-El, we have an emergency. Please return to the Fortress at once... Kal-El, we have an emergency. Please return to the Fortress at once..."
After a quick glance to make sure that Lois was preoccupied with her phone call, Clark slipped out of the bullpen, and exited through the roof of an empty elevator, leaving a sonic boom in his wake as he sped North.
* * *
Kal-El scanned the Fortress with his hearing and vision before entering, and though empty, he detected crystal growth activity from the rear of the fortress. He entered and cautiously called out, "Father?"
"You're finally here," Jor-El noted. "Good, we have much to do."
"What's the emergency?" Superman asked, "And why are those crystals growing over there?"
"We've received a distress call from my brother, Zor-El," Jor-El informed him. "His ship's departure was delayed, and they were caught in the shockwave from the nova. Though they survived, the ship was disabled, and power reserves depleted by the energy required to shield them from the blast."
"Where are they now?" Kal-El asked eyes wide in disbelief.
"If my calculations are correct, they are approximately two and one-half light years from where Krypton once was," Jor-El informed him. "You'll need to go on a rescue mission."
"What are our odds?" Kal-El asked. "You told me that it took my ship nearly thirty-eight hundred years to reach Earth. Can they survive that long?"
"No," Jor-El answered simply. "In fact, power reserves were so low that the adults sacrificed themselves so that there would be sufficient power to keep your cousin, Kara, alive..."
"Sacrificed?" Kal-El interrupted, stunned. "They survived the nova just to take their own lives?"
"The alternative would have been worse," Jor-El explained. "Either Zor-El and Allura sacrificed themselves so that Kara would live, or none of them would have survived. It was a simple mathematical calculation. No other Faster Than Light civilization in the twenty-eight galaxies explored by Kryptonians could have arrived in time. You were the only alternative, despite the distance and the knowledge that you wouldn't be able to respond for several thousand years. However, the energy required to maintain life support for that period was only sufficient to sustain one of them. They chose life for their daughter."
"How did they choose life for her if the reserves won't last long enough to get there?" Kal-El asked forlornly.
"We'll grow a faster ship for your trip back."
"I don't understand," Kal-El admitted.
"Kal-El, as you know, the council refused to consider my evidence of our sun's instability," Jor-El explained. "They accused me of trying to provoke panic and insurrection by warning others of my results. I was under virtual house arrest and the best that I could manage to save you without arousing their attention was an escape pod, which is a much slower vehicle than a proper Kryptonian ship. That's also why your mother and I could not accompany you here. A proper ship, like the one now growing behind me, will make the same trip in approximately three years."
"Three years each way?" Clark inquired.
"That is correct," Jor-El confirmed. "Get your affairs in order. You'll depart in thirty hours, when the ship's growth is complete."
Six years!, Kal-El thought. "Can't we send an unmanned ship to get her?" he wondered.
"Not enough is known about their circumstances," Jor-El clarified patiently. "We know what their condition was when the message was recorded and what the expected conditions would be. However, circumstances could have changed over the millennia and would require us to actively search them out or make ad hoc adjustments to the rescue plan. If you do not go, our odds of successfully retrieving Kara are greatly diminished."
He lowered his head, nodding his acquiescence and his thoughts turned to Lois. Despite the current prohibition on their relationship, he had clung to the slim hope that they might someday find a way to be together. I don't want to leave you again, he lamented. But I can't ask you to wait six years for me. I've lost you all over again.
* * *
Thursday, September 7, 2008 12:30PM
Perry White surprised Clark by insisting on taking him to lunch after he'd tendered his resignation. He now found himself sitting across from his editor at Adrian's Ristorante, an upscale Italian restaurant near the Planet. "Think about what you're doing, son," Perry implored him sympathetically. "I understand that you're going through some things personally, but I don't think packing it in and exploring the world is the right answer."
"I'm sorry, Perry, but this is something I have to do," Clark explained somberly. "I will miss this... and the people."
"How long do you expect to be gone on this world tour, 'finding yourself'?" Perry inquired.
"I'll have enough to get me by for up to six years," Clark revealed.
"That's a long time to be away from the business," Perry pointed out. "Are you sure you don't want to at least take some time to consider the pros and cons of this?"
"I already have," Clark informed him. "I have to go. I'm sorry for the short notice, but..."
Perry acknowledged the younger man's statement with a nod. "Well, normally quitting on such short notice would make you ineligible for rehire, but I'll take care of that. That doesn't mean you'll get your old job back when you get sick of seeing the world, but we'll at least be able to consider the option."
"Thank you, Perry," Clark told him sincerely. "I really do appreciate that."
"Have you told Lois, yet?" Perry asked. He chuckled at Clark's wide-eyed expression and commented, "Well, you can tell her that she won't have to worry about you scooping her in the near future."
"Thanks for the tip," Clark answered quietly.
* * *
Friday, September 8, 2000 - 3:00PM CDT
Martha Kent stood embracing her son in their west field. Finally finding her voice, Martha asked, "So, Kara's seven?"
"Yes," Clark confirmed. "She was seven when Krypton's sun went nova."
"And she'll still be seven when you get back?" Martha inquired. "Six years from now."
"She'll still be seven," Clark acknowledged. "She's in deep stasis - basically frozen in time. I won't revive her until we get back here."
Martha again pulled the picture of Kara from her pocket. "She's a pretty little girl," she commented. "Thank you for bringing her pictures to me." She pondered the picture silently for a moment before she continued, "Well, I've got her size now, too, so I'll have some clothes waiting for her. Oh, and I'll order home-schooling materials for K through 2 so she can catch up to the other kids in school."
"Mom..." Clark started. "There'll be time for that when we get back."
"Do you have to leave so soon?" Martha asked tearfully.
"The timing is going to be close enough as it is," Clark informed her sadly. "We don't have more than a few hours margin of error before her ship runs out of power for life support... You have all of my power of attorney forms now and... and Ben Hubbard said he'd help out if you need it. I expect he'll check in from time to time."
"Have you told your friends about your plans?" Martha probed.
Clark sighed deeply before answering. "I got a hold of Pete and told him I'd be traveling abroad for awhile, and I explained things to Jimmy, too, before I left. Lois was out of the office. I left a letter with Jimmy for her. From Clark."
"Is Superman going to talk to her before he leaves?" Martha inquired.
"I wasn't sure what I'd say and I put it off a bit too long," Clark admitted. "I went looking for her and found her boarding a plane for L.A., probably to corner the detective on that gang story we were working on. Superman couldn't exactly pull her out of line for a good-bye - not without validating all of the tabloid stories and putting her face back on the front page of all of those rags. I'm just going to have to hope for the best when I get back."
"I understand," Martha revealed sadly. She hugged him tightly, and said emotionally, "I'm going to miss you!"
"Me, too, Ma," Clark told her as he returned the hug. "Me, too."
* * *
As the new ship approached completion, Superman reviewed the ship's AI programming with Jor-El. "I'm not comfortable leaving the Phantom Zone in such close proximity to Earth while I'm away," Kal-El stressed. "How much of a drag on our speed would it be to trap the Zone in the ship's wake?"
"You intend to tow it back to Krypton with you?" Jor-El inquired. "It shouldn't slow you significantly, but with Kara's power reserves so low, it would be best to avoid delays as much as possible. However, we should be able to tow it a short distance from Earth. There's an uninhabited red giant approximate twenty thousand light years away that could be a suitable home for the Phantom Zone. You can drop out of hyperspace just long enough to eject the Zone from your wake and continue on your journey."
"Let's plan on that, then," Kal-El instructed his father. "I won't leave it here unguarded."
"Very well," Jor-El acquiesced. "I've coded in the programming change. I've also programmed the sensors to scan for anything caught in your ship's wake and eject it before translating back into normal space, as you requested. I believe that everything is in order for your launch. It is time, Kal-El."
Kal-El nodded his acknowledgement, pulled the father crystal from the console and stepped back as the crystal console retracted into the floor. Finally heading over to the new ship, he inspected it briefly before he climbed aboard, inserted the father crystal into the ship's console, sealed the hatch, and secured himself in the pilot's seat. He finally reluctantly said, "I'm ready, Father. Let's go."
Jor-El's voice responded, "I am initiating the launch sequence." The ship floated up in the chamber, crashed through the roof and accelerated through the atmosphere, quickly escaping the Earth's gravitational pull. Kal-El looked back through the viewport at the rapidly shrinking Earth, and thought to himself, Good-bye, Lois. Please stay safe.
Friday, September 1, 2006 9:00PM EDT
Lois Lane angrily paced the dock behind their house and took a deep drag from her cigarette. Why, now, so close to that day, did he have to pester me on wedding plans? she complained to herself. It was the just a week shy of the six-year anniversary of the last time Superman was seen, and the last thing she was going to tolerate when commemorating the loss of her personal Prince Charming was for the runner up to pressure her into marrying him. It was an old argument.
She met Richard a couple of weeks after Superman's disappearance, which was a dark time in her life. The man she loved had disappeared without a trace, and the one person she could have confided in about that had decided to pack it in, explore the world and 'find himself.' She was as distraught as she'd ever been, a shadow of her former self. Richard had been a stabilizing influence at the time, and before she knew what was happening, they were sleeping together. When she discovered herself unexpectedly pregnant some time later, he'd assumed responsibility without hesitation. A few weeks after she'd told him of her condition, he'd surprised her with a house that he'd already closed on, including a nursery that he'd already decorated, and he topped it off with a marriage proposal.
She'd never intended a shotgun wedding and she wasn't enthusiastic about Richard's proposal. After a couple of weeks of arguing about how unnecessary it was, she reluctantly accepted his ring and moved in with him, but steadfastly avoided even the simplest beginnings of wedding plans. She refused any offers of assistance and made sure that she was always too busy to consider guest lists or possible venues. Richard had gone so far as to suggest eloping to get around the wedding planning obstacle, but she refused to consider that. Her heart wasn't in it, and she had hoped he'd give up on it eventually. However, he periodically dredged the subject back up. If that wasn't bad enough, he was also pressuring her to merge their finances. Such arguments predictably resulted in her angrily stalking off, as she had done tonight.
From her perspective, the marriage Richard wanted threatened her independence. She had vivid memories of high school and college classmates who'd gotten knocked up, rushed to the altar before the baby came, had three kids inside of five years, ended up divorced more often than not, and had zero career choices. That was not for Lois Lane. She wasn't going to surrender her financial independence, or be tied down by putting her name on the house's title. She wasn't little Susie Homemaker, and they were not going to have that argument so close to the unhappy anniversary of his disappearance.
What happened to you? Lois wondered. Some terrorist organizations had taken credit for killing Superman, but she never truly believed those stories. They didn't have a body, for one thing. Second, the Man of Steel had really been putting in overtime the last couple of weeks before he disappeared. It seemed as though he knew he wouldn't be around and was putting in the extra work ahead of time. Why didn't you tell me? Six years later, Lois didn't know whether to be pissed off or heart-broken, but anger came easier. He's going to have a lot of explaining to do if he ever makes it back. He's not going to have it easy like he did six years ago.
* * *
Richard stared out the family room window in frustration while Lois took another drag on her cigarette. This time, she's smoking simply to irritate me, he concluded. Once again, Lois sidestepped any discussion of setting the date, or any discussion of the matter at all. When he proposed five and half years ago, he expected it to be a short engagement. He'd hoped to exchange vows before the baby was born, and maybe have had a couple more kids by now. Something was holding her back and he wished to God that he knew what it was. Every time he tried to close the deal, it turned into a fight.
He couldn't understand her reluctance. They had a good relationship. Maybe not a syrupy chick-flick romance kind of a relationship, but a strong bond built on mutual friendship and respect. It was comfortable, even if certain topics were off-limits and she occasionally holed up inside herself, as she had done tonight. Actually she'd been a bit subdued all day and he'd simply been trying to get her to open up on whatever was bothering her. He hadn't planned on pushing her on wedding plans and merging their finances - it just turned out that way.
Richard was certain that they'd have a strong and lasting marriage, given how stable their relationship was. She'd get pissed at him occasionally and never completely let her guard down, but they were good together. They were so close... why did she continually have to put off planning the wedding? Even after all this time, the woman could still be a complete mystery to him. Sometimes he wondered if he knew her any better than he did when he met her six years ago.
* * *
Perry relaxed in his recliner and enjoyed the History Channel special on Superman, one of a number of television specials airing in remembrance of the sixth anniversary of his disappearance. It wasn't quite the extravaganza that they'd had the previous year, but nonetheless, the Daily Planet was getting a lot of good exposure. Nothing like a Superman story to send the papers flying off the news stand, he thought. I miss those days.
They were currently playing back the video of Superman's debut, as he caught Lois and the helicopter she fell from in mid-air and flew them gently back up to the roof. The video brought Lois forward in his thoughts. This is a tough time for her, Perry concluded. And Richard has no idea just how close she was to that story. I hope he doesn't do something stupid tonight. Perry was actually surprised that they were still a couple, and it had become clear to him that Richard was not only wearing blinders, he was wearing a blindfold. He was seeing what he wanted to see and had no clue what he had gotten himself into. If anyone offered advice, it fell on deaf ears.
When Lois informed Richard of her pregnancy, he'd tried to make an instantaneous switch from active bachelor to family man, buying the house and engagement ring before bothering to make sure the kid was his. Jason was born barely seven and half months after Richard returned to the states, and at six pounds twelve ounces, the boy was full term. It didn't matter that Lois' sister delivered a ten-pound baby - Jason wasn't a preemie. He wouldn't have gone home after two days if he had been that early. But Richard would hear none of it. He adamantly declared that the kid was premature and was his. Lucy's bouncing baby boy may have convinced some people that Jason was a preemie, but Perry wasn't buying it. Neither was most of the bullpen.
Lois and Richard did eventually fall into a comfortable routine with Jason and there was no denying now that Richard was Jason's daddy. He was a devoted father and always there to watch Jason while Lois ran off after a story. Perry knew that Richard was disappointed by Jason's severe allergies and profound lack of anything resembling athletic ability. However, he never let Jason see that - he was a very happy little boy. Richard seemed happy, too. Lois was the only one with a hidden sadness behind her smile, though there was no hiding the joy that Jason brought into her life. However, her smile wasn't as wide and there wasn't the spring in her step that there had been six years ago.
* * *
Just a little while longer, Martha thought. Another week or so, and my boy will be home. She'd missed Clark terribly and was anxiously preparing for his return. Kara's, too, of course, and she'd been busy preparing her house for the little girl. She'd redecorated one of her guest rooms with something fitting a little girl, and stocked the room with age appropriate toys and stuffed animals. The closets and dresser were full of clothes in her size and the shelves full of children's books for her age. Downstairs, pictures of Kara now joined other family photos on the piano and a stack of children's videos were now on the shelves under the television. She was ready for the family reunion.
A lot had changed while Clark was gone, even in Smallville, most notably her courtship with Ben Hubbard. She still loved and missed her late husband, Jonathan, but the years since his loss had been terribly lonely. Clark had visited regularly before leaving to rescue Kara, but even then, he still had his own life to live. And with him now out among the stars... Ben's companionship had breathed life back into her - instead of being an old woman waiting for death, she was alive again. His gentle prodding had encouraged her to discover the joys of fly-fishing in Montana and inspired her to make other vacation plans with him, too. Clark's always liked Ben, Martha reflected. This may come as a shock to him, but hopefully, he'll be happy for us.
The changes beyond Smallville would be much more troubling for Clark: The 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, war in the Middle East, and unimaginably deadly natural disasters. Martha knew that it would bother her son that he hadn't been available to help, but Kara needed him, too, and nobody else but Clark could help her. Kara will still need him when they get home, Martha reminded herself. I wonder how much thought he's given to what he'll do about that once they get here.
Martha reflected that Kara would have an advantage that Clark hadn't had - someone just like her, who'd gone through what she would go through, who could help her to understand her gifts. She won't be alone, Martha concluded. And maybe Clark won't feel so alone anymore, either. Maybe things will be different than they were six years ago.
* * *
Finally free of that old hag, Lex Luthor thought as he boarded his yacht, formerly owned by his late wife, Gertrude. Took her long enough to die. He smiled as he considered his good fortune. After a few months of having Kitty slip arsenic in the old crone's meals, his aged bride had finally kicked the bucket. It was almost too soon, though. He barely got her signature on the revised will before she breathed her last. Now, while he was embarking on a relaxing journey north, his lawyer was evicting her family and eliminating the evidence of foul play by filing papers to have the corpse cremated. Luthor was certain that he'd greased enough palms to avoid any legal problems over her death, and even if the family won their legal case for her burial plans and discovered the arsenic, the trail would lead them to Kitty, who obviously acted on her own out of jealousy.
Lex considered his good fortune in learning of Kitty's previous employer from her visiting nurse days. It was almost too easy for him to turn on the charm, poison the old broad against her family, and convince her to leave everything to him. Regrettably, it had taken longer than anticipated to get the hag to change the will, but his brilliance prevailed. That inheritance would fund his genius and this time there would be no meddlesome alien freaks to ruin everything. In fact, the alien might actually end up helping this time - if Lex could find whatever it was he'd been heading to in the arctic.
Before the alien's disappearance, he'd found a way to track Superman, as he repeatedly flew North towards the arctic. The Man of Steel had captured him and returned him to prison before he was able to pinpoint the location, but he was able to extrapolate from the data he had to get a general idea of the location. There had to be some kind of base there - something with technology that could serve Lex's purposes. It could provide him with the wealth and power that a man of his stature truly deserved. It was already shaping up to be a better world that it had once been. It was a world without Superman, unlike the unfortunate circumstances of just six years ago.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006 8:15PM EDT
When Kal-El became aware of the high-pitched buzzing around him, his first sensation was one of pain. It felt as if every cell in his body was on fire. His eyes fluttered open and after a moment of disorientation, he finally recognized the cabin of his rescue ship. "Alarm off," he croaked weakly. The buzzing immediately ceased and he groggily looked over to the cot on his left. Kara had a painful grimace on her face, and he struggled to reach over to her and grip her shoulder. "Kara," he called to her gently. "You must wake up. We're home."
Her forehead wrinkled and she slowly turned to him, her eyes widening in shock when she saw the stranger wearing her family's crest. «Who are you?» she exclaimed fearfully. «Where are my parents?»
"I'm your cousin, Kal-El," he told her calmly. Finally recognizing the confusion on her face, he repeated himself in Kryptonian. «I'm Kal-El, your cousin. I answered your father's call for help and brought you back to Earth with me. We'll be landing, soon.»
«Kal-El's just a baby, » Kara pointed out defiantly.
«You were suspended for a long time, » Kal-El told her sadly. «You were too close when the sun exploded and stranded in space. I made it safely to Earth and grew up here. Then, one day, I heard your father's call for help, and went back for you.»
«Where are my parents, and why does everything hurt so much?» Kara persisted.
Kal-El looked away and sighed deeply. He was really too tired to go through this right now. «We're recovering from radiation poisoning, » he explained. «The sun's explosion transformed the crystals of Krypton into radioactive poison. We got too close.» He paused and rolled over to face the ceiling as he recalled the nearly botched rescue.
Zor-El's ship had been badly battered, it's internal atmosphere evacuated into space, and Zor-El and Allura's mummified remains floating in the lifeless cabin. He'd scrapped his initial plans to fuse the two ships together, and bring them both back to Earth, and instead transferred all of the data crystals and Kara's stasis cot to his rescue ship. He then ejected the mortally wounded ship and sent it on a trajectory that would incinerate it in the neutron star that had once been Krypton's red sun.
Rather than immediately begin the voyage home, he had decided to survey what was left of Krypton. Most of the planet's surface had been decimated and its citizens vaporized in the sun's corona as it expanded to scorch the planet before the sun went nova. He'd surveyed what he assumed was the city of his birth, in the shadow of Mount Argo, it's once majestic crystal towers now charred and broken shards. He circumnavigated the home of his earliest days and was surprised to find monuments in the Valley of Elders which seemed miraculously unscathed among the ruins.
The monuments commemorated Krypton's greatest heroes, Kol-Ar, Pon-Us and his ancestor, Sor-El. The three of them had ended the last war among the Kryptonian people nearly half a million years ago. The emotion as he looked upon his ancestor's monument had been overwhelming, recognizing the same coat of arms that he proudly wore on his chest. He felt himself become nauseous before the knot of pain cramped his stomach. He'd stared out the viewport in confusion in response to the pain for several minutes before he finally recognized the green vein snaking through his family crest on Sor-El's monument. Kryptonite! The nova had transformed the crystals into the deadly substance! He barely managed to squeak out the command, "Home," before he fell back on his cot and lost consciousness.
His cousin's prodding interrupted his rumination. «Kal-El», she interrupted apprehensively. «Where are my parents?»
He turned to her and told her compassionately, «I'm sorry, Kara, but they didn't survive.»
«No!» Kara wailed, her lip quivering. «It's got to be a mistake. They can't be... can't...» The child was overcome and sank back into her cot, sobbing uncontrollably. Kal-El pushed through his lethargy and sat up, pulling her onto his lap. Her arms automatically wrapped around him as he reconfigured his cot into a seated position.
* * *
Martha Kent smiled victoriously as she laid her tiles down on the scrabble board. "Alienation," she announced. "That makes my total, ahem, four hundred and nine."
"I'm just about to make my comeback," Ben promised happily.
"I can hardly wait," Martha chucked. She was interrupted from further comment by a vibration resonating through the house and shaking the scrabble tiles off of the board. The vibration was followed by a rumbling that turned into a deafening roar. Something's wrong, Martha thought. He was supposed to land at the Fortress.
"What in the world?" Ben wondered as he jogged quickly to the back door and looked out in the direction of the noise. Martha joined him and saw the sky turn red as a shiny meteorite streaked directly above the farmhouse, quickly losing altitude. It disappeared over the peak of the barn moments before a flash lit the sky like daylight and a thunderous blast assaulted their hearing. "We'd better call the sheriff," Ben advised.
"We're not going to bother the sheriff for a simple meteorite," Martha insisted.
"But..." Ben protested.
"Oh, would you look at the time," Martha interrupted. "I hadn't realized it had gotten so late. Thank you for joining me for dinner," she told him quickly. "I'll call you tomorrow."
"Martha, what's going on?" Ben pleaded.
"We'll talk tomorrow," Martha assured him. "Good night, Ben." He reluctantly accepted her dismissal, kissed her on the cheek, and walked out to his truck.
* * *
Martha followed the smoking trench and looked up in awe at the huge alien ship, its spikes stretching more than fifty feet into the air. I don't think we're going to be able to hide that in the cellar, she reflected. She moved as close to the ship as the heat still rolling off it would allow. "Clark!" she called out worriedly.
"Ma," he squeaked from her right. He was on his knees, one hand on the ground in front of him, the other struggling to maintain his grip on the semi-conscious little girl in his arms.
"Oh, Clark," Martha sighed, quickly running over to the pair. "What happened?"
"Kryptonite," he answered lethargically. "So weak..."
"Her, too?" she inquired caringly. Her son simply nodded, as he again struggled to stand. "Give her to me," Martha commanded. "I'll get her strapped into the truck and come back for you." Clark nodded his agreement and surrendered his burden, collapsing and rolling to his side as soon as he was relieved.
It seemed to take an eternity for Martha to get her charges stowed safely in the truck and back to the house. She wasn't as young or as strong as she used to be and she'd stumbled more than once. It was also an exhausting struggle to get the pair inside. Kara was much easier to handle, though still cumbersome as she carried the little girl up to her room and changed her into pajamas. She lingered a moment in the doorway observing her guest, before heading back downstairs to help her son from the truck.
* * *
Thursday, September 14, 2006 3:35AM EDT
Clark woke with a start, hearing the blood-curdling scream coming from the upstairs bedrooms. When the scream was followed by a loud thump, he pulled himself from his slumber and raced up the stairs to the source of the noise. He grabbed Kara's thrashing arms, and pulled her to him. «Shhh.... Shhhh, » he comforted the sobbing girl. «It's all right. You're safe.»
He was so focused on his cousin that he seemed not to notice when his mother turned on the light behind him. Martha noticed that her inconsolable guest had opened her eyes and was struggling to get out the alien words between her sobs. Clark was rocking her gently, speaking soothing words to her in the same alien language. He was still dressed in the skin-tight grey body suit she'd found him in the previous evening. It had taken almost everything Martha had just to get him inside to the sofa and his boots off.
Slowly, Kara's sobs diminished, and Martha heard Clark's deep baritone as he began to sing in a slow, soothing tempo, «Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, Brown paper packages tied up with string, These are a few of my favorite things(1)...» Confident in her son's ability to handle the crisis, she retreated from the scene and returned to her bed, still exhausted from the previous night's ordeal.
* * *
Martha rose from her bed and got dressed shortly before dawn, as was her custom. She paused to check on Kara, but was surprised to find her room empty. She continued walking down the stairs and smiled widely at the sight that greeted her. Clark was lying back in the recliner with Kara in the protective circle of his arms as she cuddled up against him in peaceful slumber. She also believed Clark to be asleep, until he opened his eyes and looked over at her. "How is she," Martha mouthed.
"Sleeping peacefully," Clark whispered. "Took a while."
"You handled that well," Martha whispered back. "You'll make her a fine father."
Clark's eyes went wide at his mother's implication. "Ma, I..." he started quietly. "I wouldn't know what to do."
"Do you think that your father and I did when we first brought you home?" Martha asked in a low whisper. "It's no different with any first-time parent. And you're not in this alone." She approached the pair, placing a hand affectionately on his shoulder. "I'll do what I can to help," she assured him. "That's what grandmothers do." She chuckled quietly at her son's dumbfounded look.
"The idea's a bit overwhelming," Clark confessed. He looked down at his cousin, who was starting to stir.
"You'll do fine if last night was any indication," Martha declared. "I don't know anyone who could have handled that better, which had nothing to do with your gifts." She observed her guests for a moment and continued somberly, "It won't be as easy to document her identity as it was for us to document yours," Martha pointed out. "You'll also need to figure out a way to forge a DNA test. Since you're a single man, CPS will never let you keep her unless you can prove that she's biologically yours. As for her human bio... I've worked out a couple alternatives, though we'll need some of your special attention to make it work."
"Just how long have you been expecting that I'd adopt her?" Clark asked suspiciously.
"Not long," his mother answered mirthfully. "Only for the past six years."
Kara opened her eyes and jumped back with a start, though failing to escape the security of her cousin's arms. After a moment of disorientation, she settled back down on Clark's chest as she warily regarded Martha. The old woman bent down and greeted Kara with a friendly smile. "Are you hungry, sweetheart? Would you like me to get you some breakfast?"
Clark whispered to Kara in the alien language Martha had heard early that morning. Turning to his mother, Clark explained, "She doesn't speak English."
"Well, we'll have to fix that," Martha declared. "In the meantime, I'll get her breakfast, while you hide that spaceship you left in the West field. Looks like she could use a bath, too, after crawling in the dirt last night." She held out her hand to Kara, and after some encouragement from her cousin, the girl took her hand and let the kind old woman lead her into the kitchen.
Thursday, September 14, 2006 7:45AM CDT
Clark stretched and faced the sun to recharge after burying his ship a hundred feet below the Kansas corn. It had taken a lot more out of him than it should have, but at least he had his powers back, if not his stamina. He only allowed himself a moment for the indulgence, before peeking inside the house with his X-ray vision to check on Kara. She was still in the kitchen, but sitting on the floor, fascinated with his mother's golden retriever, Shelby. Martha was calling her back to table to finish her breakfast, gesturing to her half-finished pancakes. Satisfied with the tableau he observed inside the house, he turned and walked into the barn.
He directed his attention to the loose straw that covered the floor and concealed the trap door to the cellar. A whoosh of superbreath cleared the floor and a moment later he was slowly descending the stairs. The small space was even more crowded than he remembered with stacks of newspapers from the past six years now also cluttering the space. Clark squeezed by the rows of bundled papers, opened a cabinet door, and set the crystals he'd retrieved from the ship inside a plastic storage container that also held the blue and red uniforms of his alter-ego.
He surveyed the bundled newspapers around him and discovered that alongside old issues of The Daily Planet, his mother had also bundled old issues of The Torch, the community's weekly local paper. Well, I guess TheTorch is the best way to keep up to date on Smallville, he concluded. I might as well start there. Clark scanned the bundles with his X-Ray vision, mentally reassembling them in date order, and began perusing the headlines.
"Smallville Says Goodbye to Mildred Hubbard, 1938-2000" - Ben's wife passed away? Oh, a heart attack, just like Dad, and only a couple weeks after I left. Poor Ben. Mildred was a nice lady.
"Smallville Hosts Pot-Luck for Congressman-Elect Ross" - Glad Pete won that election...
"Crows Competitive in Quarter-Final Heartbreaker" - That's farther than the basketball team ever made it when I went to school there. Maybe if Dad had let me play...
"County-wide Wi-Max Rolled Out" - Whoa! Wireless broadband for the whole county? When did that become a priority? Oh, Pete sponsored the bill in Congress for that...
"Blood Drive Held for 9/11 Victims" - What on Earth? I guess I'll find out the details when I get to the Planet bundles.
Clark made quick work of the Torch's back issues, reflecting on the community's highs and lows and its population's ebbs and flows. He then turned his attention to The Daily Planet bundles and repeated the process. He immediately noticed a stark contrast in the tone between the Torch and the Planet's reporting - there didn't seem to be much hope reflected in his former colleagues' writing. Lois' writing in particular had taken on a pessimistic tone. Of course, the stories covered were also more discouraging: Lives lost in a rough year for natural disasters; The September 11 Attacks; War in the Middle East; Crime on the rise in areas that could least tolerate it...
Clark quickly and steadfastly continued scanning each issue, memorizing the articles, occasionally pausing over a particularly troubling story. He imagined the missing years as he read, moving through the remainder of 2000, then on to 2001.... 2002... 2003... 2004. Finally, an article from September 8, 2005 stopped him cold, and he fished the issue out from the middle of stack, spreading it open on top of the bundles and he slowly read it.
"Why the World Doesn't Need Superman" - Lois wrote that? I should have talked to her before I left. ...Oh, boy... "We realize it would have been better if he had never come at all..." I really should have talked to her. After re-reading the editorial for a third time, he realized how tired he was and he abandoned the cellar to head back to the house.
* * *
Clark entered the kitchen just as Kara was finishing her pancakes. Martha had apparently coaxed her charge away from Shelby long enough to finish her breakfast. His mother detected his disheartened demeanor and gently probed, "Did everything go all right?"
Clark masked his expression and answered simply, "The ship's taken care of. Any problems with Kara?"
"She's been a little angel," Martha beamed. "We're getting to know each other in spite of the language barrier, though Shelby seems to be managing even better at that than me. Oh, I think it may be a good idea for you to explain that she's getting a bath after breakfast. I remember how you use to fight us at bath time, and I'm too old to go into combat."
«What are you two talking about?» Kara asked curiously.
«I'm sorry, Kara, » Clark apologized. «I keep forgetting that we haven't taught you 'English' yet.»
«What's 'English'?»
«It's the human language that my mother and I have been speaking, » he explained, gesturing to Martha.
Kara narrowed her eyes and cross her arms across her chest. «I though you said you were Kal-El!» she complained defiantly. «His mother is Aunt Lara!»
"I take it she doesn't like baths," Martha commented mirthfully.
"I didn't get to that part yet," Clark muttered. He returned his attention to his cousin and kindly explained, «It's not that simple, Kara. Jor-El and Lara died when I was just a baby and I was too little to take care of myself when I got to Earth. But I was found by two of the most wonderful human beings you could ever hope to meet. They brought me into their home and their hearts. They adopted me and became my parents, and it's because of their love and guidance that I became the man that I am. It doesn't make Jor-El and Lara any less my father and mother, but the humans who raised me are my father and mother, too. Do you understand that?»
Kara's rage dissipated slightly at that. She glanced briefly over at Martha before locking eyes with her cousin and sadly asking, «Aunt Lara's still your mother?»
«Yes.»
«And this lady is your mother, too, because she adopted you when you were little, after... after Aunt Lara and Uncle Jor-El died?» she continued.
«Yes. Her name is 'Martha'.»
«Are your human mother and father going to adopt me, too?» Kara asked anxiously, looking back at Martha.
Clark smiled sadly, and informed her, «Well, my human father died when I was seventeen years old. It's just my mother, now, and she'd rather be your grandmother.»
Kara was silent for a moment, and looked down in contemplation. When she finally looked up, she asked quietly, «Does that mean that you're going to adopt me?»
Clark sighed deeply and scrutinized his cousin for a moment. «Possibly, » he answered after a moment. «There wasn't a lot of time to plan things out before I left to get you, so we're still trying to figure things out. And I don't have a wife who could be a mother for you.» He started cutting into his pancakes before chancing a glance back at Kara. Her tear-glistened eyes and the quivering lower lip, sent him quickly around the table, and he pulled her into his embrace. He told her sincerely, «Kara, no matter what happens, remember this: We'll always be family, and as long as there's life in me, I will always be there for you. I promise.» Kara wrapped her arms around him and began quietly crying in his arms.
* * *
Martha's thoughts were of her houseguests during the drive back from town with her groceries. The poor little girl seemed be having a tough first day on Earth, with the nightmare last night and her breakdown after breakfast. Clark had managed those episodes remarkably well and she had no doubt he'd make a wonderful father, despite his apprehension. They still had some work to do to get everything in place for that, though they had some time before that had to be done.
She was also relieved that the pair had overcome their incapacitation from the previous night, when they'd both been so weak that they could hardly stand. She'd been worried about that and Clark had clearly lost some weight. Kara was terribly thin as well and Martha assumed that must have been a side effect of being frozen in stasis for so long.
Fortunately, Clark had recovered enough to bury their spaceship and Kara's heritage was starting to assert itself as well. When they'd been outside after her bath, tossing a tennis ball around for Shelby, it had gotten away from Kara, disappearing into the sky over the horizon. The child didn't know her own strength. Well, Clark should be able to help her with that, Martha thought. He knows better than anybody what she's going through.
Martha turned into the drive of the Kent farm and immediately spotted the pair sitting in the sun on the steps, with Shelby lying on the porch behind them. They walked out to greet her as she parked her truck beside the house. Clark opened the passenger door and informed his mother, "We'll carry the groceries in for you." He handed some of the bags off to Kara and took the remainder himself.
"So, what have you two been up to while I was gone," she asked pleasantly as she followed them into the house.
Clark whispered something to Kara, provoking a smile from her and she excitedly answered in English, "We do flash cards!"
"Oh, you're learning English!" Martha responded in delight. "How wonderful!"
"She has a rather limited vocabulary right now," Clark explained. "Our focus this morning was on the alphabet and phonetics - the flash cards you bought came in handy for that. I've also been teaching her a few English words here and there while we were at it."
"It'll be a lot for her to remember," Martha commented.
"Well, she has an eidetic memory like me, so I don't think that'll be too much of a problem," Clark suggested. "After lunch she'll get reading lessons and work on controlling her strength - I wanted to give her a little more time in the sun to recover before getting into the powers."
"Are you still feeling the effects from the kryptonite?" Martha asked, the concern apparent in her voice.
"My powers are back, but earlier this morning I was tiring a bit quicker than usual," he admitted. "Give us enough time in the sun, though, and we'll both be back to a hundred percent before too long."
"Good," Martha answered simply. She began putting away the groceries and casually added, "It's got to be difficult for her but she's incredibly lucky to have you here to help her. You're doing a remarkable job, you know."
"Thanks, Mom," Clark answered sincerely. "Though I still don't quite feel that I know what I'm doing."
"That gets better with time," Martha assured him. "Just don't work her too hard. Remember that she's a little girl, and she'll need play time, too."
Clark nodded his agreement, and helped his mother put away the rest of the groceries.
* * *
Thursday, September 14, 2006 3:15PM CDT
Kara still couldn't believe all of the incredible things that she and Kal-El could do on this strange world. She never imagined that anyone could possibly throw a ball as far as she had thrown Shelby's ball that morning, or run as fast as she now knew she could run. Even now, running through the fields at two hundred miles an hour with her cousin, she could hardly comprehend that she was able to do such incredible things, so easily.
Kal-El had demonstrated all the things that he could do and explained how he was able to do them, and Kara found that she was also able to do those things. She could hear conversations from miles away, see through walls, blow out her breath with hurricane force, and burn things by concentrating her vision upon it. She'd even been able to float up into the air. Kal-El had been surprised that she'd been able to do that.
«Turn to your left here, » Kal-El commanded, pointing in the indicated direction. She obeyed, and made a wide turn to her left, nearly stumbling. Kal-El caught her arm, and kept her on her feet, and she continued at speed through the rows of plants. Corn, Kara reminded herself. He said the English word for these plants is 'corn.' Kal-El had explained that Earth didn't have the technology for replicators, and actually had to grow their food instead. These plants would eventually be harvested and served as food. This was a weird planet. Father said it would be different here, Kara remembered. Father... As thoughts of her lost parents overtook her again, she slowed her pace and came to a stop.
Clark noticed the tears glistening in his cousin's eyes and squatted down in front of her. «Kara, are you okay?» he asked compassionately.
«I miss them, » she said softly.
«I know, and I wish I could make things easier for you,» he told her. «I know it doesn't help much now, but it will get better with time.»
«It's my fault, » she confessed.
«Kara, you mustn't blame yourself, » Kal-El insisted. «It's natural to feel guilty when you survive and others don't, but-»
«No, you don't understand, » Kara insisted, «It's my fault that they're dead.»
«You can't mean that, » Kal-El consoled her.
Kara looked back at her cousin with tears now dripping down her face. «I wasn't where I was supposed to be, » she admitted. «They told me to stay close by, but I got bored...»
Clark listened intently as Kara described her last moments on Krypton, when her mother finally tracked her down at the playground with her friends near their home. «We've been looking all over for you!» Allura had scolded her. She activated her wrist comm, muttering the words, «Found her. We'll meet you at home.»
Their home was falling down around them when they finally got there and boarded the ship, and they just barely made it clear before the south wall of Kandor fell into the Chasm, taking millions of homes carved into the crystal with it, including theirs. They'd just escaped Krypton's gravity when their red sun began to shrink behind the planet.
«Translate to hyperspace!» Allura had screamed hysterically.
«We're still too close to the sun, » Zor-El insisted. Allura knew as well as he did that attempting translation too close to a stellar mass would disintegrate the ship and she nodded her understanding. «Five more minutes... it's going to be close, » he informed her.
Kara had been glued to the window and witnessed the sun disappear behind Krypton, and then light up in a fireball brighter than anything she'd ever seen. Only the automatic filters on the viewscreen had prevented her from being blinded by the intensity. «Ten seconds, » she heard her father call out.
Two seconds before they would have been clear, the ship's safety systems automatically transferred all power to shields to protect them from the shock wave it detected, preventing their translation to hyperspace. The wave hit them five seconds later, and even with the shielding fully powered, they'd been violently thrown about the cabin and knocked unconscious. When Kara woke, her parents had very worried expressions on their faces, and her father's brow was wrinkled in concentration over the console. «There has to be someone, somewhere...» he had muttered.
«We made it this far, » Allura had consoled her husband and daughter. «We'll figure something out.» Kara had been bored out of her mind while her parents reviewed the information on the console, and it seemed like hours before they finally pulled themselves from their analysis and tucked her into the stasis chamber cot. They'd both been extremely attentive, telling her how much they loved her, that she'd be at her new home on Earth before she knew it, and how wonderful a place it would be. When they activated the stasis unit, Kara had quickly succumbed to the darkness.
Thousands of years later, in a Kansas cornfield on a strange distant planet called Earth, Kara looked at her cousin with a distraught expression on her face. «If I had listened -», she began.
«Shhh...» Kal-El commanded, pulling her into a hug, holding her tight for a moment as her shoulders began to shake with sobs. When her crying subsided, he gently told her, «I know it's difficult, but you must not blame yourself for their deaths. You didn't mean for anything bad to happen and nobody knew how much time we really had left. I was probably only a few seconds ahead of you and my mother never let me out of her arms until it was time to go. There's no way to know how things would have gone if you'd been home with your parents.»
«But -» she protested.
«No 'buts, '» Kal-El interrupted authoritatively. «I don't blame you and I don't think that your parents did, either. They wanted you to live, and the best way to honor their memory is to look forward, instead of to the past, and live the life that they wanted for you, one that would make them proud.» Kara clung tightly to her cousin, wishing for a way to believe those words as he apparently did.
The sole occupant of the ship's magnificent glass-bottomed ballroom was unable to relax to the soothing sounds of Léo Delibes' The Flower Duet flowing from the Gertrude's sound system. Though Lex Luthor hardly noticed the irregular motion that the rough arctic seas forced upon the 271-foot yacht, his preoccupation with the delays locating the alien treasure made it impossible to enjoy the music. Not only had he spent months waiting for Gertrude Vanderworth to die, they were also spending an unbearably long time searching for the bounty, despite having prepped the ship while the old crone was on her deathbed and embarking on the journey within moments of her heart's last beat.
Their sprint north along the eastern seaboard to the arctic's Queen Elizabeth Islands had taken an excruciating ten days, given the ship's top speed of a mere seventeen knots and the mandatory ports of call for fuel and provisions. The riches Lex sought remained hidden even now, after three days of scanning the damned frozen wasteland with the best precision sensory equipment that the Vanderworth fortune could buy. If those buffoons would just pay a little closer attention to what they're doing and less time complaining about the cold, maybe we'd have found the damn place by now, Lex fumed.
Lex turned his attention to the numerous scientific texts and journals that he'd brought with him on the journey, each offering a hint of a lucrative opportunity, if only the technology of realizing that vision was available. He was just the visionary genius to deliver it, if only the imbeciles up top could find Superman's secret base. If the Kryptonians had safely delivered a man to a world galaxies away, as the alien had boasted in that debut interview, then surely they had the means of bringing such dreams to fruition. Superman certainly would not have allowed that wondrous knowledge to die with his doomed world. Yes, the Rosetta Stone to that advanced alien technology was somewhere nearby and his for the taking, opening up countless opportunities for wealth and power. Of course, he'd gladly deliver those dreams to his eager customers, for the right price, and he'd be sure to include back doors in the products to protect and extend his interests.
Lex looked over the books and magazines opened up on the desk in front of him, and recalled the potential revealed in these scientists' infantile efforts to unlock the secrets in their various disciplines. The life-like Japanese robot described in the issue of Live Science was little better that Disney's animatronics, yet the writers were giddy over the allegedly advanced technologies behind its primitive features. Simple-minded amateurs! Lex scoffed. Once I find the Boy Scout's base, I'll give them something to write about. He'd produce domestic robotic servants that would become an essential status symbol in every mansion and boardroom. Of course, they'd surreptitiously record everything and transmit it back to LuthorCorp, allowing him to ensure his customers' continued support. True robotics had so much more potential than the amusement park gimmick the Japanese had boasted of.
Another intriguing area with great promise was nanotechnology - machines only several dozen nanometers in size. The results so far had achieved little more than a few motors or switches that lecture audiences swooned over, but had little practical application. With the alien's database, Lex would show them what a true visionary creates. For the right price, his nanites would be injected into the body to clear clogged arteries, destroy cancerous tumors and repair spinal cord injuries. They would also expertly perform cosmetic procedures, dissolving fat cells, tightening wrinkled skin, and restoring one's youthful appearance. Of course, they'd also be able to take over the patient's nervous system, allowing Lex to press them into service without it ever being traced back to him. That probably never occurred to those simple-minded fools, Lex sneered.
Stable fusion power was another puzzle that Krypton must have deciphered, and which Lex was eager to exploit in this energy-hungry world. That fool alien never realized what he had, Lex concluded. The world will be much better served with me as the guardian of that knowledge. Once he delivered the new clean power plants and shut down the old fossil fuel ones, he'd set the prices for the energy monopoly at his whim. Of course, his ventures in domestic robotics and nanotechnology would keep the public utility commissions in line.
Among all the possibilities, Lex was most enamored with all the new land just waiting to be claimed elsewhere in the solar system. Lesser minds ignored that possibility, given that the current state of space technology that was still so young that humans could barely reach out to the moon. However, if Krypton could send a man across several galaxies, they certainly had vehicle designs that could bring the planets within easy reach. Lex glanced over the National Geographic issue in front of him, opened to the article titled, "Mars Once Had Oceans, Evidence Suggests(2) ."
He nearly drooled over the artist's conception of a Mars with an atmosphere and oceans similar to what the Earth now had. So much beach-front property, Lex thought dreamily. If it was like that once, it could be again. Certainly, the freak's ancestors knew how to terraform a planet. Lex dreamed of a Mars transformed by Kryptonian technology into LuthorWorld, and opened to tourism and immigration, if you were wealthy enough. Of course, there would be no tired, poor or huddled masses crowding his world. And with a monopoly on transportation and all public services, he would certainly get his cut.
These were but a few examples of the seemingly infinite opportunities waiting for him when he assimilated the alien's technology. However, his hired help first needed to find the damned alien base. He knew it was there, abandoned when the flying freak had died, and Lex had no doubt that he was dead. If he had simply left the planet as suggested, he'd have released a statement through his favorite member of the press. Whoever killed him was a fool not to have recorded his death or paraded the dead body through the streets, Lex thought casually. They could have gotten so much mileage out of that... Finally noticing the time, he pulled himself from his ruminations and irritably pushed himself away from the desk. This is the treatment I get, he complained to himself. The boldest criminal genius of our time, and I'm surrounded by fools and slackers. "Kitty!" he bellowed, "Where's my martini?"
* * *
The three men in the wheelhouse were all leaning forward in their seats, hovering over their coffee as they silently scrutinized the equipment that had been installed in the countertops. That quiet was abruptly ended when Grant stalked menacingly into the room; almost unrecognizable bundled under his parka's heavy protection against the cold. "What the hell are we doing up here freezing our asses off?" he asked irritably. "All that's out there is ice and snow!"
"And icebergs," Brutus added helpfully.
"Why did you rob banks?" Reilly countered. "Because that's where the money was."
"There's no money up here," Grant hissed.
"But whatever Lex is looking for is up here," Reilly clarified. "He hasn't led us wrong yet."
"Yet," Grant emphasized.
Reilly resisted the impulse to roll his eyes, sighing deeply instead. "His lawyers got us all out of prison, just like he promised, and it's been easy money ever since."
"I'm still freezing my ass off," Grant grumbled.
"We all are," Brutus pointed out unsympathetically.
Blip! Any response was prevented by the warning tone from one of the monitors. Stanford adjusted the controls to zoom in on the targeted area and attempted to decipher what the sensor had briefly detected.
"Got anything?" Reilly asked, focusing his ever-present video camera on the equipment.
"I'm not sure," Stanford muttered. "Whatever was there is gone now."
"It's probably interference from the storm," Brutus suggested. "Make sure you steer around that. I definitely do not want to ride out another storm in this tub."
"Next time, take the Dramamine like the rest of us," Stanford suggested as he maneuvered the ship closer to the menacing storm hovering over the island.
Blip! Stanford looked again, and then spoke into the intercom. "Boss, I think we might have something."
* * *
"This is what you interrupted my afternoon martini for?" Lex inquired irritably, staring at the indicated screen. "A phantom blip?"
"Boss, it's not like the other false positives we've seen," Stanford answered defensively. "The density's all wrong. It's too heavy to be snow and ice from the storm, but too light to be the rock or glaciers of the island. It only lasts a second, and it's gone again."
"How long before the storm moves off?" Lex asked sternly.
"It's kind of stalled over the island right now," Stanford informed him nervously. "I looked at the weather satellite and it hasn't budged in the last couple days."
"Show me," Lex demanded, his curiosity piqued. Stanford quickly brought up the images on the screen, showing the weather pattern loop over the past forty-eight hours. The storm clouds swirled from Northeast to Southwest, except for the storm over the island they were now circling, which remained mysteriously anchored to the spot. Clever, Lex thought. Not clever enough, though. Aloud, he informed his mean, "That's it. Download the GPS coordinates for the center of that storm into the handhelds and get geared up. The helicopter leaves in ten minutes."
"We can't fly into that," Stanford protested.
"We'll land on shore and hike the rest of the way," Lex explained irritably. "Now, get moving!"
* * *
The group trudged slowly through the shrieking wind and endless snow, protected against the storm by their heavy parkas, snow pants, skier's goggles and face masks. Stanford led the way, constantly checking the GPS, with Lex and Kitty right behind him. Brutus, Reilly and Grant brought up the rear, laden down by their heavy packs. The snow swirled fiercely against them and Lex had to continue urging them on. "Keep moving!" he commanded harshly.
"There's nothing here!" Kitty complained. "We're going to freeze to death in this!"
"The storm is merely the stupid blue Boy Scout's 'No Trespassing' sign," Lex assured her, impatiently. "We'll be fine once we get there."
"Yeah, right," Kitty muttered disbelievingly.
"It's his security and early warning system rolled into one," Lex explained harshly. "He naively assumed that no one in their right mind would press forward through this storm."
"And he was right about that," Kitty deadpanned. Lex glared at her, unkindly pulling her along the path, and the group plodded forward in defiance of the unrelenting storm.
An hour later, the storm suddenly dissipated into light snow, though visibility was still low through the thick white fog that surrounded them and they could barely see Stanford twenty feet in front of them. Lex verified their position on his GPS handheld and they continued their slog forward into the fog. When it finally cleared to reveal the alien structure, Stanford came to a sudden stop. "My God," he muttered. "It's bigger than the Meteor-Dome back home."
"The scale can be deceiving at this distance, though it is big," Lex concurred, stopping alongside Stanford with the others. He only allowed himself a moment before marching forward. "Now, let's get on with it," he commanded. Twenty minutes later, they finally crossed the threshold of the secret base.
Once inside the Fortress, the group pulled off their ski goggles and face masks, and gazed around the cavernous main room. Though not quite as large as Stanford has first speculated, the place was immense. Kitty pulled off a glove and put her hand on one of the columns. "This ice is warm," she declared in astonishment.
"That's not ice. It's crystal," Lex informed her. He frowned when realized that there was nothing remotely resembling technology around them. The place was huge and majestic, but the alien technology still remained hidden. "We need to search this place, top to bottom," he declared. "Everybody spread out. If you find something important, don't touch it. Just call it in."
"I guess he forgot to get the roof fixed before he left," Kitty muttered, her gaze fixed on the gaping eighty-foot wide hole in the ceiling and the huge crystals shards littering the floor beneath.
Lex glared at her. "Don't just stand there!" he chastised her. "Get out there and search with the others." After Kitty left in a huff, Lex made his way down to the crystal debris beneath the breached roof. Well, it's the right size for a hanger, but where is the ship and why the hell didn't he think to put in a retractable roof? Lex pondered. There still was no video screen, no control panel, nothing to indicate that this was anything more than a random oddity of crystal growth.
"Found it!" Kitty's voice echoed throughout the Fortress. When the others finally joined her, she was in the upper level, leaning against one of the walls with a smug look on her face.
"Well?" Lex demanded. "Where is it?"
Kitty brushed her hand against the wall behind her and a three by seven foot section of the wall slid to the side. Lex eagerly followed Kitty through the door, only to be disappointed by the contents of the room. Though its construction was alien and crystalline, the features inside included a clearly recognizable shower, sink and commode. "You called us up here to show us the bathroom?" Lex asked incredulously. "I said to call it in if it was something important!"
"It's important to me," Kitty insisted, pushing Lex out of the room and brushing the panel on the inside wall to shut the door.
Then men silently stared at the closed door for a moment, before Grant declared, "I'm next."
"Just how much coffee did you have before we left?" Reilly muttered mirthfully.
"Quiet!" Lex commanded, and he bent over to take a closer look at the spot Kitty had touched to operate the door. There was nothing more than a razor-thin line around the area to reveal it as anything other than part of the wall. "Well, there's obviously a power source for the door," he concluded. "Keep looking, and keep your eyes open for these geometric patterns in the walls."
An hour of searching had revealed a bedroom and a sitting room of sorts, but no control panels, no computers, no books, no Rosetta Stone to decipher the still elusive alien technology. At one point, Stanford was inspired to shout the command, "Computer, acknowledge." But that was also only answered with silence.
The group now gathered with Lex Luthor near the roof debris in the center of the Fortress, waiting for further directions from their leader. "Is this my reward?" Lex groused quietly. "The boldest criminal mind of our time, wasting two weeks in this frozen wasteland on a wild goose chase?"
"Well, this was stupid-" Kitty began.
"You weren't supposed to answer the question!" Lex screamed.
"I meant the floor tile," Kitty clarified, pointing to a roughly two by four foot oblong pattern of faint contiguous hexagons. "Why'd he just tile this one spot? Why not the entire floor?"
Luthor moved closer, squatting down to inspect the area. "This isn't floor tile," he explained. "There was something here - something important." He stood, and reaching his hand out towards the pattern, he added, "Maybe some kind of control panel." His supposition was supported by a screeching sound as the Fortress crystal console grew from the hexagon pattern towards his outstretched hands. Lex stretched his hands out even further, his spirits lifted in anticipation of finally unlocking the alien treasure. He smiled at Kitty, telling her kindly, "Well, I guess you're good for something after all."
"It's the least I could do for the oldest criminal mind of our time," Kitty muttered sarcastically.
Lex walked up to the console, brushing his hands against it, as Kitty had done at the bathroom door. His smile faded when he realized that his actions had no effect. He rubbed his hands over another spot, then another. Still, nothing. "Oh, come on!" Lex complained. "Do something!"
Unbeknownst to Lex, when his outstretched hands had activated the console, the missing father crystal caused the console's logic circuits to initiate a countdown while it waited for the crystal's reinsertion. The countdown continued during Luthor's tirade and was unmoved by his kicks to the console's base. When the timeout period finally expired, the logic circuits followed the decision tree, concluding that the father crystal had been lost. That invoked its disaster recovery procedure, growing a new father crystal and populating it with the data distributed among the remaining crystals. However, the years of recorded conversations between Kal-El and Jor-El were lost with the original crystal, and thus the procedure had the effect of resetting the new crystal to its state as it was immediately after the Fortress' creation, when the then teenage Kal-El first approached the console.
"It's not fair!" Luthor ranted. "This was supposed to be my destiny! I'm the-"
"My son," Jor-El's voice reverberated through the Fortress. Luthor and his companions looked in the direction of the voice and witnessed the dancing blue light coalesce into an unfamiliar face. "You do not remember me. I am Jor-El... I am your father..."
He thinks I'm his son...
"By now you will have reached your eighteenth year, as it is measured on Earth. By that same reckoning I will have been dead for many thousands of your years..."
I'll be damned. The freak grew up here. He's been masquerading as one of us.
"Embedded in the crystals before you is the total accumulation of literature and scientific facts of other worlds spanning the twenty-eight known galaxies..."
At last! The Kryptonian Database! And it's mine now...
"These are important matters to be sure, but still matters of mere fact. There are questions to be asked and now is time for you to do so. Speak."
"Tell me everything, starting with these crystals," Lex commanded.
* * *
The alien database had exceeded Lex's wildest dreams. After Jor-El had explained the basis of the crystal technology to Lex, the criminal had systematically queried the Kryptonian elder on each of the technologies he had researched on his journey north. Finally, they reached the subject of terraforming, and Lex was surprised to learn that Krypton had itself been terraformed, after the world of their origin was destroyed in a nuclear holocaust eons ago during Krypton's last war.
The Kryptonian survivors of that war had transformed an airless, desert planet into a life-giving world of air and water in just a few months, using their crystal technology. They'd grown new continents to cover the oceans, and even grew new cities from the crystals. Jor-El's detailed descriptions of those growing continents provided Lex with his epiphany. I don't need to go to Mars to claim my land, he realized. I'll grow a new continent here, on Earth... and I can punish all those who stood in my way while I'm at it.
Lex spent the entire night with the Ghost of Krypton Past, designing his new continent. When the first rays of the morning sun finally broke through the open roof, all of the details had been set, all conflicts ironed out, and a special crystal grown with the design uploaded into it. All Lex had to do was drop it in the ocean at the predetermined location to begin the continental growth process. Lex greedily stuffed the new crystal into the inside pocket of his parka and then stowed the rest of the crystals into a separate bag. We certainly wouldn't want these falling into the wrong hands, now would we?
Friday, September 15, 2006 6:30AM CDT
As usual, Martha Kent was out of bed and dressed before dawn. She walked quietly down the hall to check on her young guest, carefully avoiding the squeaky boards in the floor. When she reached the guest room, the open door revealed it to again be empty and Martha walked in to inspect the room. Kara had another bad dream during the night, but this time the room hadn't fared so well against her thrashing. Her flailing arms had smashed the headboard to splinters and put a hole through the wall before Clark had gotten in there to chase the nightmares away. She's probably sleeping in his lap again, Martha guessed. She scrutinized the damage, noting that the debris was still scattered on the floor. Well, this can wait until after breakfast, she decided, and she busied herself setting out clothes for Kara to wear that day.
To Martha's surprise, Kara was awake to greet her when she got downstairs, though the girl was still in the protective circle of Clark's arms, cuddled against him as he stretched out in the recliner. "Good Morning," she greeted them. "You two are up early."
Clark shrugged. "It's close enough to sunrise anyway, and you know we won't be able to sleep once the sun's up."
"Well, I guess I'd better get started on breakfast," Martha resolved. "All right, you two. On your feet." The pair obliged and Martha led Kara into the kitchen while Clark headed up the stairs.
* * *
Kara listened to the conversation between Kal-El and his human mother from her room as she dressed. She couldn't understand what they were saying, though she could pick up a few words, thanks to the English lessons from the previous day. Kal-El had explained what the sounds each of the symbols in their written language represented, how to sound out the words, and how to look up the words she didn't know in Martha's dictionary - she was going to have a lot of words to look up. After she dressed, Kara quietly came back downstairs and grabbed the dictionary from the end table. She settled herself into the recliner, opened the book to the beginning and began studying its pages while Clark and Martha continued their conversation.
"The poor dear," Martha said sympathetically. "I was so excited about having her in the family that I never stopped to think how difficult this would be for her. I guess I thought it would be like it was with you."
"I was considerably younger, Ma," Clark pointed out.
"Too young to realize what was lost," Martha acknowledged. "Not like Kara... Clark, what she really needs right now is stability, and I think that changing her orphaned status would be very helpful in that regard. I really don't mean to pressure you on it, but..."
"I know," Clark assured her. "And, you're right. And it needs to be me - last night made that rather clear. And we'll need to make that bio you came up with official."
Martha nodded, smiling at her son. After a moment of silence, she asked curiously, "How's she coming along with her lessons?"
"We're going to have to spend more time on English," Clark answered thoughtfully. "As for powers, I think she's got a handle on the strength and speed..."
"Well, that should be good enough for now," Martha concluded. "We didn't see the other stuff with you until puberty."
"That's another thing, Ma," Clark told her quietly. "She can already do all of that other stuff."
"Even fly?" Martha asked in astonishment.
Clark chuckled, "Well, I'd hardly call it flying. She has the skill, though. I don't quite understand how she's able to do all of that already."
"Well, we never knew what to expect with you, so you never had anyone to show you what was possible," Martha pointed out. "Maybe that's the difference, or maybe it's simply different with girls." Clark shrugged at the suggestions and the two were quiet for a moment before Martha broke the silence. "What's your plan for today?"
"Well, I need to patch that hole in the wall and fix Kara's bed," he informed her. "If you could watch her for a little while, I'll run into town for supplies."
"I go with you," Kara declared from the living room doorway, carrying the dictionary under one arm. "I help fix."
"You can understand us now?" Martha asked in amazement, her lips turning up into a smile.
"I look up words," Kara explained, holding up the dictionary.
"Oh, how wonderful!" Martha exclaimed, and she pulled Kara into a hug, kissing the top of her head. "I'm so happy that we can understand each other now! How many words did you look up?"
"All of them," Kara answered simply. Martha eyes grew wide at the revelation, and she tightened her hug on her special guest.
"It would probably do her some good to get off the farm and interact with people," Clark pondered. "We'll have to work on the grammar first, though."
"You'll also need to explain that bio to her," Martha pointed out. "You'll get questions when people see her."
Clark nodded and answered confidently, "We can handle it." He turned to Kara and told her seriously, "Kara, please come here and sit down. We need to talk to you about something important."
Kara climbed into the empty seat at the kitchen table, and Shelby sauntered over to sit on the floor beside her. The young girl looked up at her cousin apprehensively and began to absently scratch Shelby behind the ears.
"Kara, do you remember what we talked about yesterday morning, when you asked if I was going to adopt you?" Clark began. At Kara's nod, he continued, "Well, I'd like to do that - to adopt you, if it's okay with you."
"Because my parents dead," Kara stated sadly, her lip beginning to tremble. "It my fault."
Clark pulled her onto his lap, and Shelby whimpered a complaint at the sudden loss of attention. "You mustn't think that," Clark insisted compassionately. "Nobody else blames you and you shouldn't either. It's just... well, sometimes bad things happen to good people. But even when bad things like that happen, we can't dwell on them. We have to keep moving forward, towards the future. In your case, that means that you'll need someone to love and support and guide you, just like I had when my parents - my human parents - adopted me. I'd like to be that someone for you."
"You be my human father?" Kara sniffled into his shirt.
"I'd be your adoptive father," Clark clarified. "It gets a bit complicated because we can't tell anyone that we're from Krypton, or about your real parents. We're going to have to use a made-up biography for you."
Kara looked up at him in confusion. "Why not tell truth?"
Clark kindly explained, "I wish we could, but it's not that simple. While most of the human beings you'll meet will be kind, wonderful people, there are also people in this world who are not so kind, not so wonderful. If some of those people found out that we were from another world, it could become dangerous for the people we care about, like my mother here. We best way to keep them safe is by keeping our heritage a secret."
"That why you change name?" Kara asked sadly. "Now 'Clark', not 'Kal-El'?"
Martha touched Kara's shoulder to get her attention, "Kara, dear, we didn't know Kal-El's birth name when we found him," she revealed. "He was just a toddler and he couldn't tell us. Even if we had known, 'Kal-El' wasn't a name that people on Earth used. We had to give him a name, and we named him 'Clark, ' after my family. But, in your case, Kara is a common girl's name that means 'beloved, ' so you can keep that name."
"You'll have a different last name, though" Clark explained. "Your full name will be Kara Annika Kent." Kara looked up at her cousin, and he quickly added, "If that's okay with you."
"What about ko-mekh and sa-mekh(3)?" Kara asked unhappily, looking down into her lap.
"I didn't catch all of that," Martha muttered.
"It was Kryptonian for 'mother' and 'father'," Clark explained. He turned to his cousin and continued, "Kara, honey, it's just that your name needs to follow human traditions. I'm not trying to forget about your parents, or replace them. I could never do that. But, I will be a father to you."
"It was the same when my late husband and I adopted Clark," Martha explained. "We loved him just as much as if he had been born to us, and tried our best to help him with his gifts and bring him up right. I think that he turned out all right and now he can do the same for you - by becoming your dad... And I'll be your grandma."
"But you take my parents names away," Kara complained sullenly. "We no honor them."
"I don't understand," Martha stated quietly.
"It was Kryptonian custom to include the parents' names in their daughters' full names," Clark informed his mother. "Her Kryptonian name is Kara Allura Zor-El because Allura and Zor-El were her parents." He gently brought his hand up under Kara's chin and lifted her head so that she was looking at him. "Kara, listen to me. We honor our parents and loved ones by what's in our hearts, not just by what in our names. We have to try to fit in, and that will mean using human names. It's not our intention to dishonor your parents."
"Actually, your parents' names do exist in the human population," Martha told Kara helpfully. "The name Allura is a very rare French girl's name, and Zorel is a very rare Scandinavian surname. It's pronounced a bit differently - the accent is on the first syllable - but comes pretty close. We can use that name on your birth certificate, if it's that important to you. However, we really wanted to make you a Kent and let everyone know that you were part of this family now."
Clark looked over at his mother with an astonished look on his face. "Mom?"
"I've had six years to look up things like this, dear," she told him simply.
Kara looked sadly over at Martha and quietly declared, "I use real name."
"How about if we made it 'Kara Allura Zorel' on your birth certificate, but make your legal name here 'Kara Allura Zorel Kent'?" Clark suggested. "Would that be okay with you?"
"Okay," Kara agreed quietly.
"Good," Clark breathed in relief. "Just remember that you'll also have to stick to that new biography..."
"It silly to pretend," Kara declared. "Better to tell truth."
"I wish we didn't have to pretend, but you're just going to have to trust me on that, okay?" Clark insisted seriously. "Someday, you'll understand."
Martha chuckled. "You sound just like your father." She turned to Kara and revealed mirthfully. "Clark didn't like the secrets any more that you do when he was your age, but he's glad he listened to us now."
"So, will you let me adopt you?" Clark gently prodded.
"You can adopt," Kara answered softly. "We go to store now?"
"You're going to need a grammar lesson, first," Clark informed her. "And you need to learn your new biography."
* * *
Friday, September 15, 2006 9:20AM CDT
Clark parked in front of the Williams' General Merchandise store and helped Kara out of the truck. "Can we get some new balls for Shelby?" she asked hopefully.
"I don't see why not," Clark agreed. "I'm sure they have some here."
They entered the store and were immediately greeted by the owners, Harold and Gladys Williams, both in their early sixties. "Clark!" Harold hollered. "I heard you were back in town! How long are you staying?"
"I'm not sure," Clark confessed as he shook the older man's hand. "I'm kind of playing it by ear right now, but I'll at least stick around long enough to fix up a few things at my mother's house."
"I assume you have a shopping list," Harold inquired helpfully. Clark pulled a folded paper from his shirt pocket and handed it over. "Hmmm," Harold muttered. "Well, I can get you the drywall and mud now, and I should have a straight two-by-four around here somewhere. We've got the paint here, too. I'm going to have to place an order for the rest of the lumber on your list, though. Let me make a call. I've got a truck coming this afternoon, and if I catch them before they leave, I might be able to get your things on it. Be right back."
While Harold called his supplier, Gladys bent down in front of Kara. "Can this little one be yours? Oh, of course she is. She's definitely got your baby blues, Clark."
"Um, this is Kara," Clark replied cheerfully. "Kara, this is Mrs. Williams."
"Hi," Kara greeted shyly, partially hiding behind Clark.
Gladys chucked. "You were just as shy at that age. So when do we get to meet her mother?"
"She died," Kara answered sadly.
Clark's eyes grew wide in alarm and he looked down at Kara in time to see the sheen of unshed tears. He quickly squatted down beside her and pulled her close. "Are you going to be okay, honey?" he asked gently.
"I'm sorry," she answered tearfully.
"There's nothing to be sorry for," Clark told her sympathetically. "I know you're going through a rough time." Kara responded by clinging tightly to her new father.
"I'm so sorry," Gladys apologized. "I didn't mean to upset her."
"It's okay," Clark replied quietly. "You didn't know... She just found out the sad news a couple days ago and it hasn't been easy on her."
Gladys nodded in acknowledgement and excused herself to join her husband behind the counter, giving the pair some privacy. When Harold hung up the phone, Clark heard Gladys whisper the news about Kara's mother to her husband.
Clark brushed Kara's tears away and happily suggested, "Hey, didn't you want to pick up some more tennis balls for Shelby? I think they have some over there." Kara offered a small smile, nodding her head, and Clark led her over towards the store's small sporting goods section.
As they passed the front counter, Gladys gently interrupted them. "Clark, don't worry about the supplies. We have your list and we'll have our son drop them off at your mother's place this afternoon, after the truck comes in with the rest of your order."
"You don't need to do that," Clark protested.
Gladys held up her hand to silence him. "You see to your little one. We have your list, Fred will deliver your supplies, and we'll settle up later. It's the least we can do after upsetting her like that."
"I appreciate that," Clark told her sincerely. "Though I'd still like to get what I can now, so we can at least get started on our home projects." He smiled over at Kara and said cheerfully, "Kara's insisting on helping me."
"Fair enough," Gladys conceded, smiling back at the pair. "But please let us know if there's anything we can do to help."
"I will," Clark assured her. "Thank you."
* * *
Clark knelt down on the tarp in front of the damaged wall in Kara's room, and gently lifted up on the top half of the severed stud. He looked over at Kara kneeling beside him, and explained, "I'm just putting enough tension on the stud so that it'll carry the load on top after we fix it... Hand me that two-by-four."
Kara grabbed one of the two eighteen-inch long pieces of lumber that they had cut earlier, and handed it to Clark. He tilted it through the hole in the wall, and slid the piece up against the broken stud, holding the two pieces together. "Now the nails..." he told her. Kara handed him the framing nails, one at a time, and he pushed six of them through the two studs above the break.
"Can I try?" Kara asked hopefully.
"Sure, just push the nails through the two pieces at the bottom, like I did on the top," Clark offered happily.
Kara scooted closer, and effortlessly pushed the framing nails through the two boards below the break. "Just remember... Other people aren't strong enough to push nails into wood like this. If there are other people around, you'd have to use a hammer and tap it lightly. We'll practice that later."
"Okay."
"Good, now hand me the other two-by-four," Clark instructed her. Kara handed him the other eighteen-inch stud, which Clark aligned on the other side of the break, sandwiching the damaged original between the two splints, and repeating the process. "That should hold it... Please hand me that gyp-board..." Kara gave Clark the sixteen by twenty inch wallboard that they had cut earlier, and he precisely fit it into place. Kara already had the drywall screws ready for him when he turned his head to ask for them. He accepted the screws, and secured the patch in place.
"How's it going?" Martha asked from the doorway.
"We fixed it, Grandma!" Kara informed her excitedly.
"I can see that," Martha replied happily, smiling down on her.
"We should have it all patched in both rooms in another half hour," Clark elaborated. He noticed his mother's elevated heartbeat and voiced his concern, "Is everything all right?"
"Well, the phone might not be ringing off the hook, but while you two have been up here, I got thirty emails from the ladies in town, all wanting to know about my granddaughter, and that's in addition to a half-dozen IMs I got as soon as I logged in. I had to set my Yahoo to invisible just to have some peace."
"IMs?" Clark asked disbelievingly.
"The Internet came to Smallville while you were away, son," Martha explained. "Pete pushed through the county-wide Wi-Max and they added an Internet lab to the library. They even offered adult-Ed classes to teach us old-timers how to use it all. And the Rodgers' boy has been helping folks find cheap, refurbished PCs to get on-line. I got mine from eBay, though."
"You've been shopping on eBay?" Clark asked incredulously.
Martha nodded, smiling at her son's reaction as she continued, "Point is, people are only just finding out about you two and the town's already in a tizzy over it. They mean well and want to help - some of them too much so. Now that they know you're a single dad, the old ladies are probably already trying to find you a bride. I wouldn't be surprised if they ambushed us after church Sunday."
"Uh, oh," Clark muttered quietly.
Martha waved off his concern, "Don't worry about it. We can handle them - we always have. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it... Anyway, that's not what I came up here for. Since we don't have a language barrier anymore, I was going to suggest that I go over Kara's school lessons with her after you're done here while you take care of those other things we talked about."
"School?" Kara asked unhappily.
"Yes, school," Martha explained firmly. "You're going to have to catch up to the other kids your age before you start going to school with them. Don't worry. You'll still have plenty of time to play. We just can't neglect your education indefinitely."
"Your grandma's usually right about such things," Clark gently informed his little helper. "The lessons won't be that bad - you might even enjoy them - and I won't be gone long."
"I'll have everything ready downstairs once you're done here," Martha informed them quietly, leaving them to the repairs as she turned on her heel and exited the room.
* * *
Saturday, September 16, 2006 2:00AM UTC
Superman grew pensive during his second flight over the Atlantic in the past day. His first trip that morning had turned into a reconnaissance mission to identify what documents would need to be forged, and where those forgeries would need to be planted. Mom really did her homework, he had thought, These are perfect places for this - towns whose records aren't computerized yet, but still big enough that they would not remember a stranger passing through town, even if she gave birth while she was there. He had finished the surveillance in time for a casual visit with Doc Rivers back in Smallville to inquire about DNA tests, before rejoining his newly adopted daughter at the farm.
Kara was learning quickly. After a slow start trying it the traditional human way, Martha had instead decided to have Kara speed-read the school materials first, and then go over it with her to fill in the blanks. It looked like it wouldn't take more than a few more days before Kara caught up to the other second-graders. She was making progress with the powers, too, though the past afternoon's emphasis had been on learning how to keep her actions within the norm for a child her age. A couple more days, and she would have that down as well. Learning to use her powers with control would take more time, but she was certainly farther along than he had been at that age.
When Fred Williams dropped off the rest of lumber late that afternoon, Kara had insisted on joining Clark in the barn to help him and he taught her how to turn the wood on the lathe, perfectly reproducing the parts from the destroyed headboard. They'd still have to get by with the old headboard that night, while the glue set on its replacement in the barn. They'd paint it in the morning, along with the drywall patches in the bedrooms, and all evidence of the previous night's damage would be erased.
Well, all things considered, the day went pretty well, Superman reflected. Kara's come a long way in a couple days, learning English, accepting the adoption and her cover story, albeit reluctantly. Though she's still having a hard time with her parents' deaths, blaming herself, and she's been a bit clingy. Kara hadn't been pleased that he was flying off to run some errands alone for a second time that day, just as they were sitting down to watch the Toy Story DVD that Martha had rented from Netflix. It had taken several minutes to settle her down before she let him leave, and in the end he had to promise a trip to the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita that weekend. I hope I won't have to bribe her every time I have to go.
Superman pulled himself from his contemplation as he approached the Scandinavian town, and silently lowered himself to the roof of the city hall. He sneaked inside undetected and slipped the forged birth certificate in their files, just where it would have been if Kara had really been born there. He remained unseen when he left the building, flying quickly above the clouds. One down, he thought. Just a few more stops, and we'll be all set.
Saturday, September 16, 2006 11:30 AM CDT
Martha set the laundry basket on the dining room table and began pulling out the clothing and folding it. Those two have certainly been generating a lot of laundry during their training sessions, Martha thought to herself. After each session, the pair seemed to come back to the house covered in dust from the fields and both in desperate need of baths and change of clothes. Well, maybe once she finds her wings they'll come back a little cleaner.
Martha's thoughts were interrupted by a male voice from the back door. "Hello, hello, hello!" he called out cheerfully. "Mind a visit from a strange old man?"
"Come on in, Ben," Martha greeted pleasantly. "I'm in the dining room."
Ben strolled comfortably through the kitchen and greeted Martha with a chaste kiss. "I've missed you the past few days," he confided. "I've also heard a few things about the company you've been keeping," he teased. He pulled out a chair and sat at the table, his gaze locking on the little jeans Martha had in her hands. "I don't think those will fit Clark," he commented.
"No," Martha said simply. "They're Kara's."
"Your granddaughter who I had to find out about from the town gossips," Ben finished. "Do I get to meet her?"
"Clark took her to the Sedgwick County Zoo this morning," Martha informed him. "I don't expect them back until late this afternoon... Ben, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about all this. I didn't mean to keep you in the dark, it's just... Well, it's complicated and these are Clark's private matters. It really wasn't my place to speak of it."
"I'd have respected his privacy," Ben assured her. "Are you sure that your silence wasn't because Clark never married Kara's mother?" Martha looked over at Ben with a surprised expression on her face and he elaborated. "Like I said, 'town gossips.' I got a call from Gladys yesterday morning right after she talked to you. She was trying to find out what I knew about Kara."
"What else did she tell you?" Martha inquired.
"That Clark and, what was her name, Annika? That they were only together briefly before she left him and went back to Europe and that he never knew about Kara. At least, not until after the poor kid's mother died in that tsunami a couple weeks back, along with the rest of her family. Gladys didn't seem to have too many details beyond that."
"Well, she's lucky she got that much," Martha snapped. "Our focus these past few days has been on Kara, not putting out a press release for those old gossips."
"Martha, I'm not the enemy here," Ben replied gently. "And I know this has to be rough on the girl - she's had the carpet pulled out from under her when she should still be blissfully ignorant of the harsh realities of this world."
Martha set down the unfolded jeans and dropped into the chair beside Ben. "You have no idea," she admitted. "The poor dear's been breaking down in tears over her loss when you least expect it, and wakes up in the middle of the night, screaming from terrible nightmares. Clark spent the entire night in the chair by her bed last night so he'd be there to chase away the bad dreams before they had her busting through the walls."
"I can imagine," Ben replied compassionately. "Has she gotten any professional help?"
"What?" Martha began uneasily. "She's only had a few days to adjust. Give her some time."
"Martha, you do remember how the Holland kids were after their folks were killed by that drunk on fifty-three, don't you?" Ben reminded her. "They practically gave their poor grandparents strokes from their antics until that doctor from Kansas City turned them around."
"Kara's nothing like those little devils," Martha retorted. "She's a very well-behaved little darling."
"I think that she'd still benefit from the help," Ben countered. At Martha's aggravated expression, he quickly added, "Please, at least think about it. There, I've said my piece. I won't pester you on it any further."
Martha gaze lost focus as she considered Ben's advice. "Things aren't as simple as they were with the Holland boys," she sadly confided. "This is so much more complicated and these aren't matters that are easy to talk about."
"What's the real story here, Martha?" Ben prodded gently.
"I..." she began. No, I can't lie to him, she decided. "As much as I'd like to, I simply can't say anything yet," she explained. "Not without talking to Clark first... And I haven't yet had a chance to tell him about you."
Ben nodded his understanding. "Fair enough," he stated sympathetically. "I suppose you've had more than enough to keep your mind occupied the past few days."
"Thank you, Ben," Martha told him sincerely. "I promise I'll talk to Clark about this when I get a chance." Ben reached for her hand and smiled warmly at his companion.
* * *
Saturday, September 16, 2006 5:00 PM CDT
Martha allowed her mind to wander as she peeled the potatoes for dinner and she realized just how fortunate she was to have found such an understanding beau. Ben hadn't pushed for details on Kara's background, but had instead simply offered her his unconditional support. Even with certain specifics off-limits, Martha had still been able to describe Kara's circumstances with surprising detail. He absorbed as much as she would tell him, gently encouraging her to share her worry without pressuring her to speak. Martha hadn't realized how much the situation had been weighing her down until Ben had lightened the load for her.
I'm going to have to talk to Clark about him, and soon, she reminded herself and her stomach knotted at the thought. He's going to be surprised and it will probably bother him at first. He and Jonathan were so close... She threw the last of the potatoes in the pot and turned on the burner, shifting her attention to the ears of corn.
Her preparations were disrupted when her tardy dinner guests breezed through the back door. "Grandma!" Kara exclaimed. "We saw the penguins dive off the ice and swim deep down through the ocean! It's like they were flying through the water! And on land, they walk real funny, like this..." Kara entertained her grandmother with a playful imitation of the bird's waddle.
Martha smiled delightfully at the presentation. "Well, it sounds like someone had fun... But somehow I don't think you saw that at the zoo." Martha teased her son with a suspicious expression.
"We went to Antarctica," Kara explained. "And before that, we went to Australia and saw kangaroos and wallabies, and even a Tasmanian devil." She wrinkled her nose and informed her grandmother in a loud whisper, "They smell really bad..."
Martha laughed lightly at the child's description. "Yes, I imagine they do," she agreed, stooping over to pull Kara into a hug and kissing her forehead.
"We were at the zoo and I was trying to explain the difference in the animals' wild behavior. It just seemed easier to show her," Clark explained. "We'll have a lot more places to see, don't we?"
"Uh-huh," Kara confirmed. "Yellowstone, and Alaska, and Africa..."
"Don't be in too big of a hurry," Martha advised pleasantly. "There's plenty of time to see the wonders of the world. Besides, you haven't finished telling me what you saw today." Kara smiled widely and launched into a detailed description of all the wonders she saw that day to her attentive audience.
Kara's tale continued well past dinner, with Martha's conscientious questions drawing out more details of the story and keeping the child in a state of excited glee, until her eyelids grew heavy shortly after nine o'clock. She stubbornly insisted that she wasn't tired, but was sound asleep on the couch next to her grandmother a half hour later, despite her best efforts to avoid that outcome.
After Kara was put to bed, Martha motioned for Clark to follow her outside. She stopped at the rail fence in front of the house and turned to face her son. "Did she have as much fun today as it seemed?" she whispered quietly.
Clark smiled widely. "I think so," he whispered back to her. "She was in such awe of the animals."
"Good, she needed this - to just be a little girl." Clark nodded and the two were silent for a moment before Martha continued. "You do realize that there isn't an easy fix here, don't you? She had a good day today, but not all of the days ahead will be good days."
"I know."
"If it weren't for her... special circumstances... I'd probably be suggesting a psychologist for her," Martha said quietly. "Actually, Ben made a quite convincing argument for it when he stopped by this morning."
"It'd be too risky," Clark reminded her. "They couldn't really help her without knowing what she's been through and we can't reveal that to anyone." He turned back to the house, focusing his eyes at an unseen point.
"Did we wake her up?" Martha asked anxiously.
"No, it was just Shelby," Clark assured her. "It looks like she's planning to watch over Kara tonight."
"Those two certainly hit it off," Martha commented happily. Her tone turned serious as she continued. "Clark, I know we can't reveal her history to a stranger, but without psychiatric help, it's going to be tougher for her to get through this."
"Maybe I have some studying to do," Clark decided.
"That's better than nothing, I suppose," Martha muttered. "I just wish we could do more." Martha looked back at the house with her son and again worried for the child that she was quickly growing to love as much as if the little girl had been born her granddaughter. Please, Lord, help this child.
* * *
Sunday, September 17, 2006 6:30 AM CDT
When Martha inspected Kara's room on her way down the hall, she was surprised to find the child in peaceful slumber this time, with one arm slung around Shelby who was also sleeping on the bed. She also noticed that the chair that Clark had occupied the night before was vacant. Well, I guess she had some better things to dream about last night, Martha thought. She smiled at the tableau and pulled the door shut behind her before heading downstairs. She found Clark sitting on the living room couch in his pajamas, watching the news on the muted television and reading the closed captioning. She walked up to him, affectionately placing her hand on his shoulder. "Looks like she had a good night," Martha whispered.
"Almost," Clark whispered back. "I heard her around four o'clock, but Shelby had it all under control. She was licking Kara's face and settling her down almost as soon as it started."
"Could that be dangerous for Shelby?" Martha asked, remembering the smashed bed and wall of a couple days earlier.
"I'd have intervened in time," Clark answered confidently. "Besides, Shelby seemed to sense the trouble before it started - she should be fine."
Martha glanced over at the television and quietly asked, "How long have you been sitting here watching the news?"
"Too long," Clark answered, picking up the remote and shutting off the television. "The world is a much darker place than it used to be."
"Well, we certainly hear about it more," Martha opined. "But I really don't think that people have changed all that much. Especially not around here."
"Smallville's special." Clark stated simply.
"That it is," Martha agreed. The perfect place for Kara to ease into this world, she thought.
He turned and briefly flicked his vision up to Kara's room. "Looks like she's waking up."
"I'll start breakfast."
* * *
Sunday, September 17, 2006 9:30 AM CDT
"But I don't want to go to church!" Kara whined bitterly. She stood defiantly in her jeans and Kansas State T-shirt with her arms crossed, glaring at Clark. "You said we could go see the bears!"
"After church," Clark corrected her. "After all of us go."
"Kara, honey, it's what good Christian people do -" Martha began gently.
"But it's not my church!" Kara declared.
"Kara, it wasn't polite to interrupt you grandmother like that," Clark scolded. "Now listen to me: You don't have to embrace every tenet of the religion to accept its universal truths and like most modern faiths of this world, the values it teaches are no different than what you would have been taught on Krypton. You can take the opportunity to reflect on what it means to be a good person and a member of this community."
"But, Yellowstone!" Kara complained.
"We won't be going if you don't behave yourself," Clark informed her sternly. "Kara, this isn't just about religion. Saint John's Church is the heart of this community and our friends and neighbors will be there expecting us. They want to meet you and extend their welcome to you, and we're not going to disappoint them." He paused a moment and softened his tone before continuing, "It really won't be that bad, honey, and we can still go to Yellowstone afterwards."
"I still don't want to go," she muttered.
"I know, sweetheart," Clark said kindly. "But it's one of those things that you simply have to do. Now, please, go up and put on that dress that Grandma set out for you."
Kara continued her glare for a moment and then dropped her gaze to the floor, her shoulders sagging. She slowly turned around and trudged up the stairs, Martha following closely behind her. Before turning the corner at the landing, Martha looked back at her son with a small smile on her face. She gave him a quick nod of approval, before turning back up the stairs to help Kara get changed. I really hope this gets easier, Clark reflected.
Kara was sullen on the drive to church, refusing to talk with them or to sing along with the old tunes Clark had suggested on the drive and she was restless and fidgeting once the service began. Martha had whispered into her ear a few times, explaining the service to her and offering gentle encouragements for her to sit still. Clark left that task to his mother and allowed himself to relax into the comforting sound of the congregations' singing.
"♫Come, ye thankful people, come, Raise the song of harvest home(4)..."
Rather than the peaceful meditation he sought, Clark's thoughts instead turned the tasks remaining to establish Kara's Identity. Her identity was now recognized in Smallville, based on the conversations he'd overheard before the service. However, to stand up to legal scrutiny and keep CPS off his back, he'd need more than just the European documents he'd planted. As his mother had pointed out, he would need to produce DNA results proving that Kara was his. However, there didn't seem to be an acceptable solution for collecting the cells from the inner cheeks of their neighbors without the subjects noticing, and no false explanation he could think of would convince his neighbors to collaborate on the deception. How do we manage that without burdening them with our secrets?
"♫All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin...."
Even once they solved the DNA problem, they would still face challenges ahead. School authorities would eventually demand booster shots for her, but no needle would penetrate her skin. Tom Evans took care of all of that for me, without ever asking Mom and Dad why. But he passed away years ago and I can't imagine Doc Rivers going out on a limb like that.
"♫God our Maker doth provide, for our wants to be supplied..."
A loud sigh from Kara brought his attention back to the subject of his contemplations and she glared back at him when she caught him looking. Mom never would have let me get away with that attitude when I was her age, he noted. Though, it looks like she's expecting me to handle it this time around. He bent over and whispered in Kara's ear, "If you really want to go to Yellowstone after church, you had better drop that attitude and start behaving," he warned. Kara immediately looked away from him and slid closer to Martha.
"♫Come to God's own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home..."
Clark joined in singing the rest of the hymn, cautiously eyeing Kara beside him, who studiously avoided looking back at him. Well, at least she's finally sitting still.
* * *
After the service, Clark was genuinely touched when Ben Hubbard's extended family unexpectedly fanned out to create a protective circle around them. They politely intercepted the well-wishers and kept the crowd of neighbors around them to a manageable level. They maintained that perimeter when the two families entered the meeting hall next door for the church-sponsored brunch and took their seats at one of the tables.
"Ben, I don't know how to thank you for this," Clark sincerely told the elderly gentleman seated beside him. "I'm not sure how to thank you for everything you've done for our family over the years."
"No need for that," Ben assured him. "Besides, I know how overwhelming our well-meaning community can be. They tend to overdose on compassion when tragedy strikes. That's the last thing this little one needs." He gestured across the table to Kara, who was sitting between Martha and Ben's eight-year-old granddaughter, Becky Hayden. Kara was listening with great interest to Becky's description of the filly that their mare had foaled the previous spring. Clark and Ben silently eavesdropped on the two girls for a moment. Finally, Ben confidently whispered, "I think Kara's made a new friend."
"Daddy let me name her," Becky happily informed Kara. "And I named her Lily. She's Lily the filly. Would you like to see her sometime?"
Martha was also listening in on the girls and smiled peacefully at conversation. She'd already noticed Kara's love for animals, as demonstrated with the animals on the farm, especially Shelby. She now seemed equally enamored with Becky's foal. Kara's going to need friends her age, too, Martha pondered. Friends like Becky.
"Grandma?" Kara interrupted politely.
Martha pulled herself from her contemplations and turned her full attention to the little girl. "Yes, dear?"
"Can I please go see Becky's baby horse?" Kara asked sweetly.
Martha laughed lightly at how quickly her granddaughter's mood had changed, "Don't you think you should ask your dad?"
Kara looked across the table to Clark. "Can I, please?"
Clark smiled at her, answering in mock surprise, "Are you sure you really want to spend the afternoon with horses?" Kara nodded excitedly and Clark chuckled. "If it's okay with Becky's parents, then I suppose so."
Becky's mother, Sarah, sealed the deal. "It'll be no trouble, Clark. We'd be happy to show her around the stables."
"Okay, after we're done here and you've changed back into your jeans, we'll take you over to the Hayden's stables to meet Lily," Clark informed Kara seriously.
Both girls smiled widely, gleefully continuing their chatter, and Martha chuckled at the girls' reaction. She looked fondly over at her son and thought happily, He's really getting the hang of this. Her gaze shifted to Ben sitting beside him and her smile faded as she recognized the potential threat to the comfortable rapport between the two men. Things are going to get a bit awkward between those two once Clark hears our news, she thought. It's going to take them a while to get back to this point.
Sunday, September 17, 2006 1:00 PM CDT
Tom Hayden led his guests to the south pen closest to the house where their mare and foal were frolicking. He left Clark and Kara outside the fence with his daughter, Becky, and instructed them, "Wait here while I take Hera to the other pen. She gets nervous when strangers get too close to her foal."
"Why does she get nervous?" Kara asked. "We won't hurt her."
"She doesn't know that, honey," Clark explained. "She'd rather be wrong about us than risk someone hurting her foal."
Tom led the foal over to the group at the fence a moment later. "She should be okay now," Tom assured them. He gave some small carrot pieces to Kara and explained, "Just hold your hand out flat with the carrots on top, and slowly lift your hand to her mouth... Don't look her in the eyes yet - you might scare her."
Kara slowly approached the foal and giggled gleefully when the filly grabbed the carrots with her lips. They continued the exercise to introduce the foal to Kara and eventually Lily was tolerating Kara's light petting, with Becky joining in.
Martha Kent observed the scene from the Hayden's porch, where she sat with Ben and Sarah. "It looks like Kara's made another friend," Ben commented.
Martha nodded and cheerfully informed her hosts, "She really seems to love the animals. She and Shelby have been inseparable since they got to town."
"How's she doing?" Sarah asked sympathetically.
Martha shook her head. "It's hard to say, given the circumstances, and I-" Remembering the girl's hearing, Martha immediately fell silent. She sighed deeply, looked up at Sarah and stated simply, "I'd really rather not spoil the moment. Kara's having a good time and that's all that matters right now."
Back at the fence, Clark couldn't help but smile at Kara's excitement over the foal. Her new friend, Becky, was chattering away, telling her all about their other horses.
"You have more horses?" Kara asked incredulously, her eyes wide.
"That's right," Tom confirmed for them. "Besides Hera and Lily, we have three more mares: Clotho, Lachesis and Atrophos. They're gentle riding horses."
"I'm not sure I'd want to ride the whims of fate," Clark joked.
"You ride horses, too?" Kara asked in amazement, momentarily forgetting the foal. "Can I try?" Clark looked over at Tom, who nodded cheerfully at the suggestion. Ten minutes later, Hera was reunited with Lily and Tom was leading his guests on horseback, trotting down the back trails of Smallville. Kara had been disappointed to learn that she'd have to share the saddle with Clark, but forgot her displeasure as soon as they were underway. Looks like we're going to have another good day, Clark thought. I wonder how long we'll be able to keep that up...
* * *
The ninety minute ride had passed too quickly for Kara's tastes, and it was only after they explained that the horses were tired and needed to rest that she reluctantly allowed Clark to lift her off the horse and went with the others back into the house. Her discontent didn't last long, with Becky leading her new friend to her room to show off her collection of Barbie dolls. Clark eavesdropped on the girls from the Hayden's living room, where he socialized with the other adults. He determined that Kara was enjoying herself, but still found himself unable to relax.
Martha noticed his distraction and decided it was his turn to be rescued. She turned to their hosts, telling them, "I hope you don't think us rude, but we've been putting in long days the past few days and it's starting to catch up with me."
"Oh, we understand completely," Sarah assured them. She eyed the stairs up to Becky's room and added, "The girls seem to be having such fun... I hate to interrupt them."
"I think you both probably need a break," Ben suggested. "Why not let Kara stay and play with Becky and I'll bring her home after supper?"
"What a wonderful idea," Martha answered quickly.
"Ma, I'd really hate to trouble them," Clark started anxiously.
"It's no bother," Sarah insisted. "Becky's having fun, too."
Clark reluctantly consented to the decision and they called the girls down to say their good-byes before heading out the door. On the way home, he sat silently in the passenger seat, focusing his hearing on the two little girls playing in the east bedroom of the Hayden homestead. "She needs normal things like this," Martha reminded him. "She'll be fine." Clark simply nodded his response and continued his vigil.
Martha glanced over at her son as she drove, again noticing the worry in his eyes. Martha guessed that there was more to it than Kara's control. He's been a bit distracted and withdrawn all day, she noted. Something's bothering him. She broke the silence, gently asking, "Is everything all right?"
"As well as can be expected, I suppose," he replied unexcitedly.
"You haven't been yourself today," she pointed out. "What's bothering you?" Clark sighed deeply, but remained silent. After a moment's pause, Martha prodded, "Clark?"
"How are we going to pull this off?" he whispered.
"If you talking about Kara, I think you've got a good start on it."
"Even with the documents I planted in Europe, there are so many loose ends and I'm just not sure how to tie them off," he admitted. "We need DNA tests to prove she's mine, booster shots for her school, she has psychological issues and our hands are tied because of the secrets we keep. I just don't know what we're going to do."
"Well, let's take these things one at a time," Martha suggested quietly. "Let's start with the DNA. What are your options?"
"Theoretically, I should be able to use the Fortress, but I'm not sure we'd have the power for it," Clark answered, turning to look at his mother as he spoke. "We depleted most of it for the new ship. Even after recharging these past six years, it still won't have enough juice for remote genetic manipulation."
"Why remote?" Martha asked simply. "Can't you manipulate your DNA samples at the Fortress beforehand and swap them out with what Sue takes from you at the clinic?" At Clark's stubborn expression, Martha pressed further. "You're avoiding the Fortress, aren't you?"
Clark sighed deeply and returned his gaze out the passenger window. "I worry that it would do more harm than good to bring Kara there - that it would remind her too much of what was lost."
"What's stopping you from going up there alone?" Martha asked pointedly.
Clark was silent for a beat before quietly answering, "Jor-El has some rather strong opinions on how I should live my life here on Earth, and by extension, Kara - to him, it's just duty and the mission. He never considers the emotional aspect of things, he wouldn't understand what we're doing and I doubt he'd approve. It's best not to involve him."
"Even if it meant that you could hide the non-human attributes of your DNA and make it look like Kara really was biologically yours?" Martha countered. "Is your problem that you can't find a solution or that you don't like the solutions you see?"
Clark didn't answer and Martha gave him a moment to consider her words. Finally, she offered, "Well, if you don't want to face Jor-El, there is another solution." Clark turned to look at her as she spoke, "You could share the truth with some of our friends and ask for their help. I'm sure Ben and Sarah would be happy to provide their DNA to swap for yours and Kara's, if you explained the situation to them."
"You can't be serious," Clark stated incredulously.
"Why not?" Martha asked simply. "Do you really think that your father and I managed all of your documentation ourselves? We had help from trusted friends, like Tom Evans. Granted, we didn't tell him everything, but we did tell him enough to get his help. Maybe you need to do the same. Clark, we both know that Ben and Sarah could be trusted, if it came to it... And if you don't like the other option."
"I think I'd rather talk to Jor-El," Clark stated quietly.
"Then talk to him," Martha insisted. "The next problem was immunizations?"
"Yes."
Martha returned her gaze to the road ahead of her as she pondered the problem. "Tom Evans took care of that with you," Martha reminded him. "When we asked him to, he signed off on the immunizations without giving you the shots. He never questioned us on the matter. Of course, it didn't hurt that he was a staunch libertarian who didn't think the government should involve itself in family medical decisions."
"Doc Rivers is no libertarian," Clark commented.
"No, but she is good people and she takes that doctor/patient confidentiality very seriously," Martha replied. "If we explained things to her..."
"Ma, I can't ask people to take that risk for us," Clark insisted.
"Well, that complicates things, because I've been assuming all along that we'd have Susan Rivers in our corner," Martha commented. "If you don't want to involve her, then we're going to have to find someone else we can trust enough to get Kara exempted from the immunizations."
"Maybe 'Charlie King' can talk to a school nurse in another district?" Clark suggested.
"That's not a solution, but I suppose we can come back to that one," Martha decided. "Now, about getting Kara psychological help..."
"Ma, we can't trust a stranger with this secret," Clark said emphatically. "And without knowing that, how can someone help her? Besides, I've already promised that I'd read up on it."
"Reading all those books may help you understand what she's going through, but it doesn't make you a psychologist," Martha pointed out. "The Hollands went through half a dozen of them before they found the one in Kansas City that was actually able to help, and all of them were highly trained and experienced professionals. Clark, maybe you don't have to tell them everything. Maybe but you can tell them just enough to be helpful."
"What are you suggesting?" Clark probed.
"You don't make the appointment for Kara Kent," she explained. "You make the appointment for Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin. We'll keep our name and town secret, but anything else is fair game."
"That's still too risky," Clark insisted. "Especially if the Hollands had to go through a half dozen of them."
Martha sighed and held her tongue as she considered the matter. A few minutes later, she quietly noted, "I suppose your reticence shouldn't be surprising, given how emphatically your father and I drilled it into your skull that nobody could ever know. However, I think it's distorted your priorities where Kara is concerned. You've made it your priority to keep the secret to yourself - to do everything yourself - rather than to do what is in the best interest of your child. You can't do this alone, Clark. Your father and I didn't, not completely... Son, you're going to need to trust other people to help you help her. Now, as far as Sue Rivers and Ben and Sarah go, we've known these people for decades. You know that they can be trusted and you know that they'd gladly share the burden of these secrets. You probably have friends in Metropolis that you could trust to help, too."
"Ma, if anyone ever found out that they knew -" Clark began.
"You're rationalizing," Martha interrupted sternly. "Nobody is going to associate Smallville with Superman." They finally reached the farm and Martha pulled in the drive, parking her truck into its usual spot beside the house. Clark got out and walked slowly towards the rail fence in front, but stopped when Martha called out to him. "Clark? ...You need to think about this. Please try to remember that there are solutions to these problems. They may be complicated and they may not be the ones that you'd like, but there are things we can do." Clark simply nodded and his mother went into the house, leaving him to continue his contemplation.
* * *
Sunday, September 17, 2006 5:30 PM CDT
"Clark?" Martha called. She stepped out the front door, and her son turned around to face her from his vigil at the fence. "Are you getting hungry?"
"I'm fine, Ma."
"Well, you're not going to gain back the weight you lost in space by fasting," Martha countered. "I'm warming up the stew from last night. Please get cleaned up for dinner."
Clark took one last look across the fence in the direction of the Hayden place, before turning back towards the house and following his mother inside. Martha already had a bowl of stew set out for him when he arrived at the table and he took his seat across from her. "Did you spend the entire time out there spying on Kara?" Martha asked.
"If she should forget herself, I have to be able to respond in a hurry," he explained. He paused for a beat and asked quietly, "Did you and Dad worry like this with me?"
"We sure did," Martha confirmed. "It got easier as you got older, but, yes, we worried. I still do."
"I can handle myself, Ma," Clark answered defensively.
"I know, but I'm your mother and I'll worry about you," she explained. "It's what mothers do - what parents do."
Clark nodded as he took a bite from the bread and silently continued his meal. A short while later, he quietly stated, "I thought about what you said earlier and you're right: We'll need help pulling this off. But if we're going to risk trusting others with this, we have to limit the number of people who know."
"Well, I wasn't planning on running an ad in The Torch," Martha joked. "We only need to share this with a few trusted friends."
"Maybe just Doc Rivers," Clark suggested. "I won't ask her to lie for us or to forge documents, but she can advise us on how to deal with some of these issues."
"Well, that's a start," Martha muttered. "Though, sooner or later, we're going to have to tell Ben, too."
"Why?"
"Ben and I have... grown close," Martha admitted, dropping her gaze to her meal. "He spends a lot of time over here."
Clark took note of his mother's suddenly elevated heartbeat and nervous demeanor and his eyes flew wide open. "How close?" he asked suspiciously. "Mom? ...Are you two dating?"
"Clark, nobody will ever replace your father," she assured him. "But Ben and I... well, it's really no different than what you've been telling Kara: that we mustn't dwell on our loss, but instead continue with our lives. Ben has become an important part of my life..."
"How important?" Clark probed warily.
Martha sighed deeply and looked her son in the eyes. "He's proposed," she revealed. "We'll exchange our vows November fourth."
"What?" Clark exclaimed.
"Keep your voice down," Martha admonished. "Kara has your hearing and I don't want you upsetting her."
"But, Mom..." Clark began insistently.
"Would you rather I spend the time I have left sitting around and waiting to join your father in death?" Martha interrupted.
"Wha-" Clark asked, abashed. "No, of course not."
"That's not what your father would have wanted, either," Martha explained. "We talked about it. He knew he had a bad heart. He wanted me... and you... to be happy and live our lives to the fullest. That's what I've tried to do, Clark, and Ben's become an important part of that. I'd have gone out of my mind these past few years without him."
Clark stared at his lap and muttered, "I guess a lot changed while I was gone."
"Clark, not even you can stop the world from spinning," Martha counseled him. She reached over to him and firmly gripped his hand. "Clark?" she called gently. When he looked up at her, she continued, "Ben will have to be told. If you tell Sarah, too, I think you'll have a couple volunteers for those DNA samples you need."
"Are you sure about this, Mom?" Clark asked seriously. "I know you must have been lonely..."
"Well, yes, but this isn't about loneliness," Martha told him emphatically. "I have plenty of friends in this town and plenty to do if I choose to. Ben's a good man and he'd been good to us for years before either of us ever considered this possibility. Neither of us was looking for a romance. We fell in love quite unexpectedly... Will we have your blessing?"
"Of course," he sincerely assured her. "Congratulations, I guess... This is really going to take some getting used to."
"I know," Martha told him gently. "But I think in time you'll agree that this is a good thing."
"Where will you be living?" Clark asked numbly.
"Ben's suggested retiring up to Montana," Martha informed him.
"Montana?"
"We like the fly fishing up there," she explained. "Though, I don't think Ben has stopped to consider what Montana winters would be like. Besides, he'd never really be able to leave Smallville. His roots run too deep with all his kids and grandkids here. It's different for me. I could be living anywhere in the world and you could still show up for dinner at a moment's notice."
"Do you have it figured out yet?" Clark wondered.
"I have an idea, but I haven't run it by Ben, yet," Martha revealed. "His son, Matt, needs a bigger place with the three kids, and the baby on the way, and Ben's place is way too big for just him. Matt can have Ben's place, and Ben and I can take Matt's old place. It'll be more than big enough for the two of us."
"What about our house?"
"It'll be here for you and Kara," Martha assured him.
"It won't be the same without you," Clark muttered. He eyes wandered the room, as the memories poured over him. He was just a little bit older than Kara, sitting in the same chair, when Jonathan Kent had explained how they'd found him, a premature necessity after he'd found the ship in the barn cellar. It was here that he had first experienced controlled flight, after jumping a quarter-mile over the corn fields and crashing through the barn roof, falling to hover a foot above the barn floor - and then patching the roof with his father later that day. It was here that his father had him practicing carrying eggs to control his strength. As he grew and the new powers emerged, Jonathan had always come up with an exercise to help Clark control it. Kara was now using many of those same exercises to learn control over her gifts. God, I miss him, Clark thought. He always seemed to know what to do, no matter what came up.
Martha interrupted Clark's ruminations, telling him gently, "It's not the lumber that makes a house a home, it's the people, and you'll be creating childhood memories for Kara to reminisce about someday." Martha took her dishes to the sink, and left Clark alone with his thoughts as he replayed all the memories from the only place he'd ever truly called home.
Monday, September 18, 2006 12:10 PM CDT
Sarah Hayden drove the short distance over to the Kent farm with her father, Ben Hubbard. Martha had invited the two of them over for lunch, promising a surprise for them but swearing them to secrecy. Both had accepted the invitation and agreed to the unusual condition without hesitation. "What do you think this surprise is?" Sarah asked her father casually.
"My guess is something about Kara," Ben suggested. "There were certain things that Martha just didn't want to get into without Clark there. I have a pretty good idea what's going on, so I doubt it will be much of a surprise. At least, nothing like the one Clark got last night."
"About time she told him," Sarah said with a chuckle.
"I imagine he was fairly overwhelmed, suddenly discovering himself a father of a seven-year-old like that," Ben pointed out. "He probably needed a few days before she dropped our bombshell in his lap."
"Well, I'm glad it's finally out," Sarah replied happily. She turned into the drive at the Kent farm and pulled back beside the house, where they spotted a Ford Fusion parked next to Martha's truck. "Say, isn't that Doc Rivers' car?" Sarah asked. "I hope everything's all right."
"They probably invited her over for this, too," Ben speculated.
Ben and Sarah climbed out of the car and walked around the back of the house just as Clark stepped out of the door to greet them. "Thanks for coming," he told them sincerely. "Everyone else is in the dining room."
The group walked through the kitchen and joined the others in the dining room. Susan Rivers was seated at the table with Martha, listening to Kara animatedly describe the grizzly cubs she'd seen at Yellowstone National Park. "Was that on the Discovery Channel?" Susan asked.
Kara shook her head. "My dad took me there," she stated matter-of-factly. "Next time, he's taking me to see the gorillas in the Congo."
"Really?" Susan replied skeptically. "Is that one of the places your dad told you about from his trip?"
Clark held back at the doorway as the others settled in. I can't believe I'm about to do this, he thought. After a pointed look from his mother, Clark sighed, summoned his courage and interrupted the casual conversation. "Folks?" he called nervously. "Now that everyone's here, there are some things that we need to explain to you."
"What's going on, Clark?" Sarah asked. "You mom seemed a bit secretive when she called."
"Well, there are certain... family secrets... that we usually prefer to keep to ourselves," Clark began. "However, we need your help to help Kara, and in order to do that, we're going to need to trust you with those secrets. The truth of the matter is that Kara and I are... well, different."
Susan Rivers snorted and wryly pointed out, "Everybody's different, Clark. You really haven't told us much."
"Not different like this," Clark insisted.
"Clark, I've seen all kinds of things in the twenty-five years I've worked in this community," Susan informed him. "I doubt there's anything you could tell me that I haven't heard before."
"I'm fairly certain that you haven't heard this before," Clark told her seriously. "Kara and I are Kryptonian."
"Krypt-what?" Ben replied, not making the connection.
"We're from the planet Krypton," Kara explained shyly.
"Krypton? You mean... like Superman?" Sarah asked skeptically.
Clark blurred towards them in a swirl of color, which quickly coalesced into the famous red and blue uniform of the last son of Krypton. "I am Superman," he informed them. He carefully monitored his guests' racing hearts and wide-eyed expressions as the enormity of the revelation struck them.
"Dad, what's 'Superman'?" Kara asked, tugging on his cape to get his attention.
Superman knelt down beside her and gently explained, "It's another name I use when I help people so that the bad guys don't find out about our family."
"It isn't possible," Sarah muttered. "You can't be. That terrorist group claimed that they'd killed Superman six years ago. Besides, he only showed up nine, ten years ago, and we've known Clark Kent his entire life."
"As the saying goes, 'Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated'," Superman answered. "I've been here all along. I just stayed below the radar until nine years ago, and six years ago, I went back to Krypton to get Kara... Sarah, please try to relax. Your heart's practically beating out of your chest."
"Clark, change back into your civvies," Martha ordered. She turned to their guests and sympathetically told them, "Well, we promised you lunch, so why don't we get started on the soup and sandwiches... and we'll tell you the whole story from the beginning." Once the meal was served, Martha proceeded to tell them the tale of the small space ship that crashed in the west field of the Kent farm three decades previously and the remarkable little boy they found inside.
* * *
Clark took over the narration once his mother finished the tale of his childhood years. He described his journey of discovery from his late teen years through his debut as Superman. By the time he finished the story, his guests had begun to relax, though Sarah was still jittery, tightly holding her hands together to keep them from shaking. Clark somberly told them, "I thought that I was the last. It wasn't until six years ago, when the Fortress picked up my uncle's distress signal from deep space that I found out about Kara. I built a new ship and went after her. It took three years in stasis to get there and three more years to get back home."
"Then she's not really yours?" Sarah asked quietly. "What happened to her parents?"
"They died," Kara answered, her bottom lip beginning to quiver.
"It's okay, honey," Clark consoled her, pulling her onto his lap and hugging her tightly as she fought the tears. He looked over at his guests apologetically and explained to them, "This is still hard for her."
"Clark, why don't you get her out of earshot and I'll explain the rest," Martha suggested. "Give us a few minutes."
Clark nodded his agreement and moved quickly towards the back door with Kara. A faint sonic boom followed their departure, provoking a gasp from Sarah. "Was that what I thought it was?" she asked meekly.
"Sounded like a sonic boom," Ben confirmed. He turned to Martha and asked, "Where do you suppose they're going? You don't suppose they went to the Congo, like Kara was saying, do you?"
Martha shrugged her shoulders. "They could have gone anywhere," she answered simply. "I doubt they went to the Congo, though. That was going to be an early morning trip because of the time difference. It's probably already dark there by now."
Ben just shook his head, "Amazing. All these years, right under our noses..."
"We didn't want anyone to know," Martha informed them. "At first, we were afraid someone would try to take him away, if they found out how we found him and what he could do. We worried about what they would do to him. If you look past his origins and those incredible gifts, he was really no different than any other boy. It's the same with Kara: She's really just a little girl."
"What happened to her parents?" Sarah gently asked again.
"Before they left Krypton, Kara had been across the way from her home, playing with her friends," Martha replied somberly. "Her parents had to track her down before leaving and she blames herself for delaying their departure. They barely launched their ship in time to get away before Krypton's sun exploded in a nova and they got caught in the shockwave. The ship was disabled and there was only enough power to keep one of them alive. Her parents made the same choice that any parent would have made - they chose life for their child. She fell asleep with her parents gently tucking her in and woke up to discover that they had passed away."
"The poor child," Ben commented sympathetically. "Losing her folks like that..."
"Ben, she didn't just lose her folks, she survived a holocaust," Martha corrected. "Everything and everyone she's ever known is gone and she's literally been transplanted to an alien world. Clark's her only connection back to Krypton and even he's different. She remembers him as a newborn."
"How can that be?" Sara asked, her brow wrinkling in confusion.
"She was frozen in deep stasis," Martha explained. "Kara was actually born almost seven years before Clark... This is all very difficult on her."
"What can we do to help?" Ben asked compassionately.
"Well, there are a few things we've been struggling with," Martha answered seriously. "You may have gathered that Clark's assumed parental responsibility for Kara..."
"But she's not really his daughter," Sarah pointed out. "Are you looking for someone to take her in?"
"And what would they do when Kara has another bad nightmare and thrashes so violently that she smashes her headboard into splinters and puts her arms through the walls?" Martha asked emphatically. "That happened just a few days ago..." She sighed and fell silent for a moment before softening her tone and continuing, "I don't think I appreciated just how lucky Jonathan and I were that Clark was too young to know what had happened, what had been lost. But that's not the case with Kara and she's having a tough time. Fortunately, Clark's strong enough to stop her thrashing and he's done a pretty good job of chasing the nightmares away even without his gifts."
"I had no idea," Sarah responded sheepishly.
"It surprised us, too," Martha replied. "Anyway, she's not just some stranger. She's family - Clark's biological cousin. He's not giving her up without a fight and as far as I'm concerned, she really is my granddaughter. I already love her that much. Our problem is that we're trying to document her identity so that he can keep her. He's planted documents overseas to match our cover story, but we're still going to need a DNA test to prove she's his, which presents a problem."
"Because she's not biologically his," Ben guessed.
"Well, that's part of it," Martha elaborated. "The bigger problem is that their DNA isn't human and the labs are bound to pick up on that. But if we could swap out the DNA samples taken from Clark and Kara with samples from you and Sarah..."
"Say no more," Ben quickly consented. "We'd be honored to help, wouldn't we?"
"Of course," Sarah agreed quietly. "Anything we can do."
"Thank you," Martha told them sincerely. She paused to sip her tea and then turned her gaze to Susan Rivers. "The other problem is the childhood immunizations that she'll need for school, since no needle can penetrate her skin." she continued. "When Clark was little, Doctor Evans over in Chanute took care of that for us. He was an old friend of Jonathan's and he just filled out the immunization card for us."
"I suppose we could do that," Susan concluded. She smiled up at Martha, and told her, "Though, if you want my professional opinion, I think it would be easier in the long run if we established that your granddaughter was allergic to eggs."
"Eggs?" Martha repeated. "Why would that matter?"
"Martha, do you remember that form you have to fill out every fall for your flu shot?" Susan asked. "It always asks about egg allergies because the vaccine is grown in egg cultures. If you're allergic, the egg protein in the vaccine could cause a dangerous, potentially fatal reaction. The same thing holds true for many of the childhood vaccinations."
"So if we say Kara's allergic to eggs, she doesn't need to get the shot?" Martha inquired.
Susan nodded, "When I get back to the clinic, I'll start a file for her," Susan decided. "When Clark and Kara move back to Metropolis, we'll send that file to her pediatrician and I think that should be enough to get the medical exemption paperwork through for her."
"Thank you so much," Martha acknowledged emotionally. "I really don't know what to say."
"Martha, what about getting Kara professional help?" Ben asked gently. "I know I said I wouldn't pester you about that, but based on what I just heard, she needs it even more than I thought when we talked about it before."
"Clark and I have discussed it," Martha informed him. "The problem is the family secret. In order to be of any help, a psychologist is going to need to know what she's been through and he's uneasy about revealing their origins. Telling you folks was hard enough for him, even though we've known all of you for decades and knew we could trust you. How do we decide if someone we know nothing about can carry the burden of this secret?"
"I wish I had a good answer for that, but the people I know in the field, I know mostly by reputation," Susan commented. "Though, I guess you could say I know people who know people... I can make some calls and maybe get a few candidates for you to take a closer look at. I expect that someone will pass muster and will be able to help Kara."
"I suppose that's about the best we can hope for," Martha said quietly, her eyes moist. "I don't think we're ever going to be able to repay you for your kindness."
"Well, if you can just cut each of us a small slice of that cherry pie we spotted on our way through the kitchen, I'd call it even," Ben suggested mirthfully. "That'd be a small slice of heaven, there."
Martha laughed lightly at the suggestion. "I was saving that for after dinner, but I think you've all earned a piece."
* * *
Clark focused his vision and hearing on the Kent house fifty miles ahead as they approached low above the cornfields. Martha was chatting casually with Ben and Sarah, sharing some tales of his childhood with them. A quick glance up the road confirmed that Susan was on the way back to her clinic.
He looked over to his right at Kara and instructed her, "All right, honey, we need to slow down before we get to the house. Try to match your speed with mine." He dramatically slowed his speed and Kara zoomed ahead of him, unable to slow her speed so quickly. When she came within a one hundred yards of the house, he accelerated at super-speed to catch her, and held tightly onto her as he slowed to a stop ten feet away from the back door.
"I couldn't stop in time," Kara told him apologetically.
"You just need a little more practice," Clark encouraged her. "Look at how much you've improved in the past few days... Just to be safe, though, I don't want you using powers unless I'm around, okay?"
"Okay."
Clark guided her through the back door and called out with false worry, "Is it safe to come in?" A beat later, he cheerfully announced, "Oh, you cut into the pie!"
"Hold on, I'll get you a piece," Martha offered, rising from her chair.
"You don't have to get up, Ma," Clark insisted. "I can get it. Kara, would you please get the forks?"
"Just don't take the whole thing," Martha admonished. "So, where'd you two go?"
"The Canadian Rockies," Clark answered from the kitchen. "It's relatively quiet there." Clark stepped into the room carrying two plates of pie and set one of them in front of Kara, who eagerly dug in. He turned to his mother and asked, "How did everything go here?"
"I think we've got a handle on everything," Martha answered happily. "Ben and Sarah will help with the DNA, and Sue will take care of the immunization records. Sue also might be able to come up with a list of names for us on the psychological matter, though we're still going to have to do a little homework on them."
"That's probably the best we could hope for," Clark commented humbly. He sat down and looked over at their guests. "I really can't say enough to thank you for your help."
"Really, Clark, there's no need," Ben insisted, waving him off. "You're practically family."
Sarah's head snapped up at her father's statement, her eyes growing wide. "Oh, my God," she muttered. She looked over at Clark in astonishment and explained, "I just realized that in a couple months, I'm going to get Superman for a brother." Ben and Martha both chuckled at her reaction.
"Sarah," Clark said gently. "When my mom marries your dad, you'll get Clark Kent for a step-brother. What you see here is the real me. Superman is just my nom de guerre, a celebrity persona I created to protect the family from the vultures."
"Grandma's getting married?" Kara asked inquisitively.
"Yes, sweetheart, Ben and I are getting married," Martha told her gently, as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "That means he can be a grandfather of sorts to you, if you want him to be. And Becky can be like a cousin."
"Oh," Kara replied neutrally, returning her attention to the pie.
After a moment's pause, Ben casually said, "Speaking of Superman... I was wondering when the world will see him back up in the sky. I can't imagine that it will be too long before you're back in action."
Clark leaned back in his chair and sighed. "To be honest, I really haven't thought much about it since I got back," he said thoughtfully. Looking over at Kara, he added quietly, "I've had other things on my mind."
"Yes, I imagine you have," Ben stated knowingly.
"Well, you are eventually going to have to get back to a regular routine," Martha insisted. "Kara should be ready to join the other kids in school soon, I think."
"We're not quite ready for that yet," Clark countered.
"It's not going to take much longer before she's caught up enough in her lessons to keep up at school," Martha pointed out. "And you said that she's really done well with the powers training. Sounds to me like she's almost ready and once she's back in school, you'll be able to go back to work. Didn't your old boss say that you'd be able to come back?"
"Where are you going to go?" Kara asked anxiously.
"Nowhere yet, Kara," Clark assured her. "But I used to work writing stories for a newspaper out East."
"Like my bedtime stories?" Kara asked innocently.
"It's a little different, honey," Clark explained gently. "I wrote what was happening in the world so that people would know about it." Turning to his mother, he informed her seriously, "Perry said I'd be 'eligible for rehire'. There were no guarantees."
"Well, you've got nothing to lose by calling him," Martha suggested gently.
"I suppose you're right..." Clark stated noncommittally. "But I'm not going back to work until I'm sure Kara's ready for it."
"It doesn't have to be that dramatic a change, Clark," Martha offered. "You could continue to live here and commute to Metropolis, if that makes it easier."
Clark nodded in acknowledgement, and promised, "I'll give Perry a call later this afternoon and find out what my options are. If there's nothing available there, maybe I can find something closer to home."
"I'm sure things will work out, either way," Ben suggested optimistically. "And even if it doesn't, you have family here to help out and that includes us now."
"I appreciate that, Ben, I really do," Clark told him sincerely. He sighed deeply and candidly admitted, "To be perfectly honest, all of this still seems a little weird to me."
"Excuse me," Sarah replied mirthfully. "You think this seems weird to you?"
Clark smirked at the implication and conceded, "Well, I guess it's weird for you, too. But from my perspective, I'm just not used to being the one needing help. I'm usually the one flying in for the rescue."
"You'll be back to that soon enough," Ben assured him. "I imagine the public is in for a rather pleasant surprise when Superman returns."
Clark frowned as he considered Ben's rhetorical question. I wonder how Lois is going to react, he thought. She seemed pretty angry, if that editorial was any indication. I might be in a little trouble...
Monday, September 25, 2006 8:30AM EDT
Superman chose a circuitous route to Metropolis, circling far to the North and approaching the city from the Atlantic, in order to avoid the telltale sonic booms over the city that had indicated his presence in years past. He focused his vision at the shoreline over Hobbs Bay and zoomed low and fast over the water before coming to a stop inside a parking garage near the docks, leaving only a faint offshore sonic boom to betray his approach. He blurred into his tweed suit, walked down the stairs to the street and joined the crowd on the sidewalk.
Clark's thoughts during the four block walk to the subway station were with Kara, as had been the case every morning for the past two weeks. She was still having nightmares - Friday night's had been another bad one - and she still shed frequent tears for her late parents. However, she seemed to like school since starting the previous Wednesday. He had monitored her from the farmhouse and she seemed to be fitting in and making friends. However, he wouldn't be able to monitor her this morning, given that it would take the sound waves from Smallville over an hour and a half to reach Metropolis. Maybe I should have asked for another week before starting back, he pondered. How'd I let Mom talk me into coming back so soon?
He recalled that the whole town of Smallville was abuzz over his mother's wedding plans, now that the news was out, and it seemed to have a positive effect on Kara. Though she wasn't showing any overt signs of excitement, she was now calling Ben "Grandpa," and was calling Ben's children and their spouses "Aunt" and "Uncle." She had quickly accepted them as family. He was the only one she had trouble with. She'd accepted him as her dad, but that was not the same thing to her as her father. If anyone made the mistake of referring to him as her father, she immediately corrected them. Her father was dead - Clark was her dad. Well, all things considered, that's probably rather minor, Clark concluded. Still, the sooner she sees the doctor, the better.
Doc Rivers had come through on the psychological front, which Clark was extremely grateful for. Her friends in the field had provided enough recommendations and background information to lead them to Dr. Praveena Gupta in San Jose, California. After some additional research and covert eavesdropping, he'd been satisfied enough to set up an appointment. Kara would finally begin her counseling after school that afternoon. I hope that she gets over the shock of having Superman in her office quickly, Clark thought. That time needs to be spent helping Kara. Clark was so distracted by his thoughts that he'd almost missed the subway station, coming to an abrupt stop to the perturbation of the pedestrians behind him. He muttered his apologies and descended the stairs to continue his commute.
* * *
The yacht Gertrude finally made the turn between the barrier islands that marked the entrance to Hobbs Bay, and Stanford reduced the ship's speed to five knots to navigate through the narrow seaway. After spending the better part of the last month at sea, the Metropolis skyline was a sight for sore eyes, though it would still take another half hour to reach the Vanderworth pier on the south end of the city and finally get their legs on dry land. Fortunately, the seas had been considerably calmer than even a few days ago, though everyone on board was anxious for the end of their journey.
Just about all of them had been going out of their minds with boredom, with the sole exception of Lex Luthor, who had sequestered himself in the ballroom shortly after leaving Superman's fortress and spent virtually every waking moment reading through the books and magazine articles that he'd downloaded over the satellite link. He had been making plans for extracting his well-deserved wealth and power from the crystal treasure. Luthor's first project would be reclaiming land from the sea and the most natural model to emulate would be that of the Palm Islands project in Dubai, which he was reviewing to extrapolate their lucrative financial model to fit his project. He foresaw a similarly exclusive clientele, with the exception being that he'd be able to demand far higher rates, since his clients' only alternative was oblivion.
Lex detected the change in motion and checked his watch. Once I finish this project, I'm simply going to have to develop more effective transportation, Lex pondered. I'll make that a priority once I've grown Luthorland and have a new console to interrogate Jor-El. Lex returned to his research notes and reviewed his plan for verifying the effectiveness of Kryptonian crystal growth.
* * *
Clark could only conclude that there was some evil influence behind all of the paperwork he had to fill out before starting anything resembling work. Tax forms, non-compete agreements, insurance forms and a plethora of other forms to confirm that he read and understood one corporate policy or another. It had taken nearly an hour to get through all of the forms before human resources sent him to the IT department for his laptop and then finally up to the bullpen. He had been surprised to learn that he was to report to assistant editor Sam Foswell, instead of Perry. Apparently, there had been a reorganization of the department a few years ago and only the assistant editors now reported to Perry. Everyone else reported up through one of the AEs. One more thing that changed while I was away, Clark contemplated.
Clark was pulled from his ruminations by the sharp ding of the elevator bell announcing his floor. He nervously stepped into the lobby and scanned the bullpen. The old metal desks had been replaced with modern cubicles, but it was otherwise just as he remembered it. He took in the loud din and near pandemonium of movement and allowed himself a smile. Well, at least some things never change, he thought as he maneuvered his way through the aisle, exaggerating his movements almost instinctively. He bumped into a few things, nearly but never quite knocking them over, apologizing profusely as he passed.
"Hey, be careful," a familiar voice complained. Jimmy Olsen's expression turned to one of surprise when he turned around and recognized his old friend. "Mister Clark!" he exclaimed excitedly. "I mean, Kent, Mister Kent. Clark. You're back. I don't believe it. Wow."
"Thanks, Jimmy," Clark replied sincerely. "It's good to b-"
"Welcome back. Hey, wait here."
Well, that was strange, Clark thought. Jimmy definitely looked older, now in his mid-twenties, not so much a kid anymore, even if his reaction to seeing an old friend belied that impression. Same old Jimmy, Clark concluded happily.
"Clark," Jimmy called. He held out a greeting card to Clark. "Go ahead, take it. It's from all of us," Jimmy encouraged him.
Clark looked down at the briefcase he held in his right hand and the laptop case in the left, before looking back up to Jimmy. "Maybe I should find my desk first," Clark suggested.
"Oh, right," Jimmy acknowledged sheepishly. "It's over h-"
"Olsen!" Perry voiced bellowed as he approached them. "Where are those photos? Composing needs them now!"
"Right away, Chief," Jimmy promised. "Hey, look who's back."
Perry looked at him, stifling a smile. "Kent," he barked.
Clark switched the briefcase to his left arm and held out his hand. "Thanks, Chief," he said sincerely. "Thanks for giving me my old job back..."
"Thank Norm Palmer for dying," Perry responded gruffly, turning on his heel and heading back to his office without accepting the proffered hand.
Jimmy nodded and told Clark solemnly, "It was his time."
"Well, I do appreciate it, Ch-"
"And don't call me Chief!" Perry hollered as he continued marching back to his office.
"Your desk is right over here," Jimmy informed him, leading him to a cluttered cube. On the cube wall, there was a piece of paper pinned to it with his name on it. "They took away Norm's personal belongings, but we never got a chance to go through the rest of it," he explained.
"Olsen!" Perry's voice bellowed again.
"Coming!"
Clark cleared a space on the desktop and booted his laptop before walking over to the coat closet to hang up his overcoat. Turning back to the bullpen, he searched the name plates on the cubes around him, identifying where his old colleagues sat and making note of the new names. Finally, he spotted Lois' cube and was irresistibly drawn to it, scanning it before he consciously realized it. He spotted the expected things: story notes, contacts lists, and even a Pulitzer award letter. Then, he noticed the unexpected: A family photo that included a man and child with Lois. He picked it up and scrutinized the unfamiliar faces in the picture.
"He looks a lot older now," Jimmy informed him, appearing out of nowhere. "Kids grow up so fast."
"His mother?"
"Oh, gee. That's right, you've been gone. Well, Clark, you better sit down because you're not going to believe this. Fearless reporter Lois Lane is a mommy." Clark felt every muscle in his body stiffen, his hands subtly twisting, cracking the glass in the process. He finally registered the crayon drawings on the cubicle walls.
Jimmy gently pulled the picture frame from Clark's hands. "Maybe I'd better take that," Jimmy suggested, adding casually, "I'm surprised she never told you."
"I haven't been reachable," he stated simply, making his best effort at a genuine smile before another thought intruded. "Wait, she's married?"
"Yep. Well, no. Not really. More like a prolonged engagement." Jimmy tried to explain. "But don't ask Miss Lane when they're tying the knot." Jimmy looked around and leaned in towards Clark, his voice falling to a conspiratorial whisper. "She hates that question."
Clark looked again at the picture Jimmy had taken from him. I really have lost her, he concluded. She has a family now. Aloud, he numbly asked, "Where is she, by the way?"
"Florida," Jimmy replied simply. "She's covering the Genesis launch at Cape Canaveral. They actually get to ride on the 777 that's carrying the shuttle to launch altitude." Jimmy turned and regarded his friend more carefully. "You all right?" he asked, suddenly concerned. "You look like you could use a drink. C'mon. Ace O'Clubs should be open by the time we get there."
"Huh?" Clark responded, dumbfounded. He complained in a loud whisper, "You can't be serious. It's not even ten o'clock in the morning." Who are you, and what have you done with the real Jimmy Olsen?
"Nobody will notice that we're gone," Jimmy assured him, waving him off. "Let's go."
"Jimmy!" Clark called in a loud whisper. "There's no way! It's my first day back and I haven't even reported in with Sam, yet."
"You're sure?" Jimmy asked doubtfully.
"Positive," Clark informed him decisively. "I need to earn my stripes all over again."
"Well, okay, but I'm treating you to lunch," Jimmy insisted.
"Deal," Clark promised. "Now, I really need to check in with Sam."
* * *
Lex Luthor marched into the Vanderworth mansion with an expression of smug satisfaction on his face as Kitty and the men tiredly followed behind him. Though relieved to have their feet on solid ground, they were not at all thrilled with the state of the mansion. The previously pristine residence was now coated with dust and cobwebs, with the distinct odor of the abandoned Pomeranians' urine permeating the air. "This place sure got creepy," Kitty complained.
"Would you rather wait on the yacht?" Lex asked shortly. He didn't give her a chance to answer before continuing, "We have what we need here. Downstairs, everyone. To the workshop."
Lex was grateful that Gertrude's late husband fancied himself a craftsman and had a well equipped workshop in the mansion's basement. He handed the special growth crystal to Stanford, who carefully clamped it in a padded vice, bringing a small rotary cutting tool to one end. His approach was halted by Lex's hand on his shoulder. "Careful," Lex warned. "These aren't easy to come by. If you break it..." Stanford nodded at the implied threat and returned to his task. He brought the spinning blade to the end of the crystal at an acute angle and carefully sliced off a small sliver about the size of a grain of rice.
"It isn't very big, Lex," Kitty noted.
"It isn't the size that matters, Kitty," Lex replied arrogantly.
"Keep telling yourself that, Lex," Kitty commented sarcastically. "The rest of us know better."
Lex glared angrily at her. "Careful, Kitty, or you might learn what really does matter," he warned. He returned his attention to the crystal sliver, which Stanford had picked up with a pair of tweezers and carefully set in a plastic dish. "This is the seed that will grow my empire," Lex muttered as he examined the sliver. "Let's not keep destiny waiting..."
* * *
Clark's morning at The Planet had turned out to be a series of surprises and disappointments, rather than the comfortable routine he had hoped for. If the knowledge of Lois' family situation wasn't enough to ruin his day, his meeting with Sam Foswell certainly was. The assistant editor made it clear that had it been his decision, he would not have hired Clark back. It was nothing personal, but the paper came first and it wasn't in the paper's best interest to hire back someone who'd been away from the business for six years.
Then, to add insult to injury, he'd assigned Clark to obituaries, the perennial punishment assignment. He'd been given a list of dozens of the living that they maintained obituaries for, just in case. After returning to his desk, Clark had stared at a blank computer screen for half an hour before finally shaking himself out of it. Might as well get this over with, he thought. He launched a Nexis search on his laptop, entered the first name from the list, "Morgan Edge", and scanned through the information needed to update the obituary.
It was almost one o'clock when Jimmy finally interrupted him. "Sorry I'm late," he said as he walked up. "I was stuck at City Hall for that news conference. You hungry?"
"Sure, where're we going?" Clark replied. Jimmy didn't answer, instead just shaking his head and waving for Clark to join him. Clark followed him out and ten minutes later, the two were seated at the bar in the Ace O'Clubs, eating quesadillas, and washing it down with something from the bar - a Coke for Clark and whiskey for Jimmy.
"So Lois is getting married," Clark commented morosely.
"Where'd you hear that?" Jimmy asked with the amusement apparent in his voice. At Clark's befuddled look, Jimmy whispered confidentially, "They've been engaged for five and half years, and she's refused to even think about wedding plans. They're not getting married. If you ask me, she's still in love with you-know-who."
"She is?" Clark asked hopefully.
"Probably. So, tell me more about this llama rodeo from your trip..."
Llama rodeo? Clark wondered. I'm really going to have to ask Mom what she put in those letters. "Um, there's really not much to tell," Clark said evasively. "To be honest, I've been kind of preoccupied with some personal matters lately."
"Everything okay?" Jimmy asked sincerely.
"Fine, Jimmy," Clark assured him. "It's just that my daughter's going through a tough time-"
"Daughter?" Jimmy exclaimed. "You didn't tell us you got married!"
"I, um... didn't," Clark explained nervously. "I didn't even know Kara was alive until after her mother passed away - I missed the first seven years. She's only been with me a couple weeks now and it's been a difficult transition for her."
"Oh," Jimmy replied sheepishly. The two friends sat together in silence, watching the Metropolis Monarchs/Florida Marlins game on one of the televisions above the bar.
* * *
"So, her mom's entire side died in that tsunami?" Jimmy asked sympathetically. "The poor kid." After briefly watching the game in comfortable silence, Jimmy's curiosity and his third whiskey got the better of him and he had starting asking questions about Clark's daughter. Clark was surprised to discover that he could share quite a bit without the family secret getting in the way.
"She's had some bad nightmares over her loss," Clark informed him. "We've been trying to end the day with something fun, to give her something else to think about, and I think Shelby - that's my mom's dog - she's really helped calm Kara, too, but... I'm not really sure how best to help her. Maybe the psychologist will have some answers. I've made an appointment for her after school today."
"Well, if there's anything I can do to help, let me know," Jimmy insisted. "Bibbo! Another round-"
Jimmy's request was interrupted when the lights in the bar went dark. Clark quickly scanned the area and noticed that not only was the power out, all of the cars in the area had gone dead, too. An electromagnetic pulse? Clark wondered. No shockwave, so hopefully not from a nuke. But what else could cause it? I'd better check this out. He was about to sneak out to investigate when the power came back on, though three of the four televisions in the bar remained dark and the sole functional set had a screen full of static.
"Hey, my cell phone's dead!" a woman across the bar complained.
"Mine, too!"
"Does anybody's phone work?"
Clark checked his own cell phone, looking through it with his vision and identifying the pock-marked scarring on its circuitry that was indicative of EMP damage. "This doesn't look good," Clark concluded.
"Let me stop in the men's room and then we'll head back," Jimmy suggested. Clark nodded and extended his senses across the city to determine the scope of the problem while his pal moved slowly to the restrooms.
It seems to be mostly a nuisance problem so far, Clark concluded. He'd discovered quite a few traffic lights out, disabled cars, and heard countless complaints about non-functional cell phones. The bullpen at The Planet was also struggling to determine what was going on, though their efforts were hampered by a dead phone system, a down computer network, some fried laptops, and apparently all of the televisions in the bullpen had also been fried by the EMP. Perry had the only functional television in his office, which was tuned into GNN. The breaking news that anchor Alicia Myers was presenting wasn't good.
"This just in," she announced. "The inaugural flight of the Genesis shuttle appears to be experiencing extremely serious technical difficulties. Reports are just coming in, but it appears the shuttle's boosters have fired before detaching from the Boeing 777 jet, veering both craft dramatically off course and out of control. It is feared that when the secondary boosters fire, both craft will be endangered."
Lois is on that plane, Clark remembered. He briefly looked back towards the restrooms, then threw a few twenties on the table and ran out the door. A moment later, a thunderous sonic boom shook the windows of downtown Metropolis, marking Superman's departure as he zoomed south in pursuit of the wayward shuttle.
* * *
He's back. Oh, dear God, he's really back, Lois thought. The blue blur past the window and footsteps on the roof weren't just her wishful thinking. The other passengers had seen him, too: On the right wing, before it broke off, and zooming past the windows ahead of the plane afterwards. It was also the only explanation for their somewhat controlled, albeit turbulent, descent despite having lost both wings. The plane's sharp yawing spin had stopped, its roll was slowing and they seemed to be on a relatively steady downward pitch. There was also the increasing weight she felt against her as the plane decelerated, and there was only one explanation for a plane in such a state to be decelerating. He's back. He's really back. Boy, does he ever have some explaining to do!
The passengers suddenly lurched forward as a final opposing force pushed back against the plane, before they were suddenly relieved of the extra burden. The plane seemed to have stopped nearly vertically on its nose - yet more evidence of his return. They stayed suspended like that for only a moment before the plane slowly tipped back down on its belly and slammed into the ground. Hey, take it easy there! Lois complained to herself. Not all of us are invulnerable.
Everyone seemed to have been stunned motionless by their unexpected survival and the only sound penetrating the cabin was that of the front left door's emergency handle turning to the side. The door opened and released the inflatable emergency slide as he floated across the threshold. "Is everyone all right?" he asked gently, methodically moving his gaze from one side of the fuselage to the other as he scanned for injuries. Everyone nodded in unison and Lois unconsciously rose to her feet.
"I suggest you all stay in your seats until the authorities arrive," he advised them. He again looked over the passengers, and finally noticed Lois standing at her seat. "Are you okay?" he asked tenderly. The other passengers turned and looked over at her.
Okay? Lois thought. Sure, I was only tossed around the plane like a rag doll. And by the way, where the hell have you been these past six years? She opened her mouth to voice those thoughts, but all that came out was a tiny squeak.
For a moment, it looked like he was going to come down the aisle to her, but he caught himself, smirking as he turned to the rest of the passengers and advised them mirthfully, "Well, I hope this little incident hasn't put any of you off flying. Statistically speaking, it's still the safest way to travel."
So he remembered, Lois thought. Not so hard when you've got total recall. What, was that supposed to be some kind of stupid inside joke to put me at ease? Jerk. In the front of the plane, Superman turned towards the door and the other journalists suddenly found their voices, calling to him, "Superman! Superman!"
He simply nodded to the passengers and walked over to the open door. The moment he stepped into the doorway, a raucous cheer erupted from outside the door, followed by the chants: "Su - per - man! Su - per - man! Su - per - man! ..."
What, did he bring his own freaking cheering section along? Lois thought. She finally remembered herself and bolted down the aisle after him, pushing some of her colleagues aside to squeeze by. Wait, she silently commanded. You're not getting away that easily. She finally came up behind him, reaching out to him just as he lifted up into the air. She craned her neck up and mutely watched him rise into the sky. Wait, she thought to him again as he finally zoomed out of sight, leaving only a sonic boom behind. Finally, she lowered her head, briefly registering that he'd set the plane down in a crowded baseball stadium. Then the lights went out, as fearless reporter Lois Lane fainted and fell down the emergency slide.
* * *
Lex Luthor inspected the giant crystals that now filled the mansion's basement. They had left no trace of Vanderworth's precious train set or much of anything else. They had also penetrated the ceiling near the center of the growth, though not by more than a few feet, if Lex had guessed correctly, which he usually did. He carefully stepped over the fissures in the floor, mentally recalling the rudimentary formulas that Superman's old man had provided to estimate the growth that the full crystal would produce. Perfect, Lex concluded. There's no sign of Vanderworth's mini-Metropolis. All of it swallowed up by my mini-Lutherland. No survivors. No bodies. No mess. Simply perfection.
"Is that what it was supposed to do?" Kitty asked in amazement. "Grow a crystal mountain and destroy a toy train set?"
"It's not just a mountain," Lex explained enigmatically. "It's a taste of things to come."
"What things?"
"It's advanced alien technology and vast amounts of prime new beachfront property."
"I don't understand," Kitty complained.
"Of course not," Lex replied condescendingly. "A small mind like yours is not going to grasp the genius of my plans."
"Then explain it to us," Kitty insisted irritably.
"Small doses for small minds," Lex commented. Turning to Reilly, he asked, "Did you get it all?"
"Yep, and still rolling," Reilly confirmed.
He turned to Stanford and ordered, "I want precise measurements of the volume of the crystal growth. Get started." Lex then turned on his heel and began walking up the stairs, pausing only momentarily to shout over his shoulder, "Kitty! Where's my martini?"
Monday, September 25, 2006 1:30PM EDT
Superman soaked in the sun high above the Florida peninsula and concluded that seeing Lois on the plane had nearly been his undoing. She was so beautiful, he thought. He had wanted nothing more than to race down the aisle of the plane and take her into his arms and had just barely been able to restrain himself. Hopefully, the reporters on the plane wouldn't read too much into his hesitation after talking to her. He realized that it would have been terribly inappropriate to embrace her. She now wore another man's ring and had a child with him. I'll always love her, but her life no longer includes me, he lamented. She has a family now. He recalled the family photo that he had seen on her desk a few hours earlier and the crayon drawings pinned to the cubicle walls. She had apparently found happiness and he wasn't about to disrupt that.
I've got a family now, too, he reminded himself. Kara's my flesh and blood. He shifted his vision across the country to Smallville and found Kara out on the school playground for recess, smiling as she talked with Becky Hayden and a couple other kids. He couldn't hear the conversation, given that the sound waves from Smallville would take ninety minutes to reach him. However, he could read lips, though he didn't entirely understand what they were talking about. 'We Bowling'? he wondered. What kind of grammar is that? Is it some new slang? I'm going to have to ask Sarah about that... He indulged in another moment of covert observation, smiling at the tableau, before turning his attention back to more important matters.
The Man of Steel swept his vision across the continent below, searching for the most obvious cause of an EMP, which unavoidably brought back visions of the nuclear holocaust he had folded space-time to avoid. I can't let that history ever repeat itself, he reminded himself. Satisfied that there were no nuclear horrors requiring his attention, he again swept his vision across the land, this time searching for the effects of the EMP. He was surprised to discover that Metropolis was the hardest hit and seemed to be the point of origin for the destructive pulse. But the shuttle was nearly twelve hundred miles away, he contemplated. What could have generated the power to cause such damage at that range?
He pushed the questions from his mind and extended his senses across Metropolis, revealing the full extent of the mess. There were now numerous injuries across the city, some of them serious, and given the current state of the city, the response from emergency services was slow at best. Thousands of citizens were also trapped in disabled subway trains or in elevators, the city's mass transit was crippled with inoperable busses and trains, and the main arteries through the city were clogged with disabled vehicles, many of which had now been abandoned by their owners. Clearing this mess will be tedious, he speculated. This is going to be a long day...
* * *
Ballpark security quickly mobilized after Superman's departure, sprinting to the plane and intercepting the excited fans streaming onto the field. However, it was the Marlins' trainer, Larry Starr, who was first to reach Lois. She started coming around as he called to her and he helped her to her feet and escorted her to the dugout. By the time Lois had cleared her head, emergency services had arrived and the fire department was evacuating the plane while the police pushed the throng of fans off the field. Few were interested in leaving the stadium, however, and they remained watching the scene from the stands. Eventually, someone in the control booth thought to send the GNN feed to the Jumbotron and the crowd was treated to a replay of the Boeing 777's dramatic rescue.
Though Lois was relieved that the authorities now seemed to have the situation under control, to her chagrin, the fire department wasn't allowing anyone back on the plane. That meant that she couldn't get her purse, laptop, or her phone, making it impossible to file the story. She was also thwarted when she tried to call from the stadium pay phones. All the Planet numbers were going straight to voice mail and no calls were getting through to anyone's cell phones: "All circuits were currently busy." It seemed her only option for getting her story in was to get her laptop from the plane, but the police and ballpark security weren't cooperating.
"Look, I just need to get my laptop and purse," Lois complained. "It will only take me a minute."
"Sorry, ma'am," the officer apologized. "Not until the fire department gives the all clear."
"Then can someone go get it for me? I was sitting in 11D."
The officer smiled sympathetically at her and told her, "I understand you're anxious to recovery your property, ma'am, but the plane might not be safe. Let the firemen do their jobs."
Lois fumed at the situation and looked briefly over at the wingless carcass of the plane before noticing the Jumbotron, which was now replaying her fall down the slide. Oh, just wonderful! Lois complained. And as if it wasn't bad enough that the jerk made me faint on national TV, now I can't even report the story! A quick look around the field verified that almost everyone from the plane was sitting on the grass, pecking away at their laptops with their cell phones balanced on one shoulder, no doubt filing their stories. Everyone, that is, except Pulitzer Prize winner, Lois Lane. The obvious puff piece covering the shuttle had morphed into the hottest story of the day and she was stuck with no way to call in it.
This isn't how I thought it would be when he came back, she told herself. It should have been something a little more private, without the eyes of the world watching our every move. The first time they'd met had also been on a disabled aircraft. She had been on her way to meet Air Force One for an exclusive interview with the President of the United States. This time, however, she was little more than a passenger, one of many on a strictly managed P.R. event for NASA, with the scope of discussion strictly limited.
It was the latest in a long line of puff pieces forced upon her, undoubtedly due to her fiancé's influence. Richard didn't like the sometime necessary risks she'd take digging up the information on some of her investigations and it never failed that when he felt she was taking too many risks, she'd have a mandatory puff piece thrown in her lap. She'd complain, but she rarely put up much of a fight. I guess I've been playing it safe in a world without Superman, since he wasn't around to help if I got in over my head, she admitted.
She was still as good a reporter as ever, but with fewer exclusives or accolades than there once were, the Pulitzer Prize winning editorial notwithstanding. Her investigative reporting these days was relatively safe, avoiding the crime beat and instead targeting politicians and city programs. That wasn't the Lois Lane that Superman once knew.
He's probably in for a disappointment when he realizes what's become of me. I was supposed to have a Pulitzer for investigative reporting by now, not for some stupid editorial... which he's probably not going to like, either... Well, too bad. Her thoughts turned to the past and she recalled the weeks leading up to his disappearance six years earlier: The spike in his activities and his absence from the Planet's rooftop. What happened to take you away from me? she wondered. And what brought you back?
She shook the thoughts from her mind, turned back to the police officer and groused, "Do they even know I'm waiting for them?"
The officer sighed irritably. "Please try to be patient," he advised her.
Lois rolled her eyes and looked longingly over at the mutilated plane that held her possessions captive. This is going to be a long day...
* * *
Perry leaned back in his chair and watched in mute astonishment as the incredible scene from Dolphin Stadium replayed on his office television. He's back! Perry summarized. And Lois is right in the middle of it, just like the good old days. Oh, what this will do for circulation! ...I hope she's okay...
His joyful contemplation was interrupted by his nephew, Richard, knocking on the door. "Perry?" he called gently. "We've got a problem."
Perry frowned, sitting upright as he turned his attention Richard. "What is it?" he asked gruffly.
"We lost the presses in this power snafu," Richard explained. "Tim just sent up a runner and he says that the circuit boards are fried. He only got about a quarter of the afternoon edition run when they blew."
"What?" Perry bellowed. "We've got the biggest story of the year going on right now and you're telling me I have no way to print it? When will we be back online?"
"They're still trying to find a working phone to call service," Richard explained, as another assistant editor, Sam Foswell, joined him in the doorway. "This power spike's blown everything in the building."
"It's not just our building," Sam added. "Jimmy just got back and he says the entire district is out and it's not just the power grid. Cell phones are fried, too. There are also a lot of disabled cars and traffic lights, so its gridlock times a thousand out there right now. We don't really have a handle on the scope of the problem with everything down."
Richard pulled the cell phone from his belt and quickly confirmed its inoperative state. "This is starting to sound more like an EMP, if it's taking out cell phones and cars, too," Richard muttered. "But I've only ever heard that scenario discussed in the context of a nuke."
"We need to pull out our disaster plan," Perry declared somberly. "Come hell or high water, we are getting a paper out tomorrow morning! We'll call it no later than three o'clock. In the meantime, tell Tim to find a working phone and get those presses fixed!"
"Everything's still out," Sam reminded him.
"Well, there's got to be a working phone somewhere," Perry insisted. "Send someone down to IT or look for a pay phone. And when you find a working phone, call the Gazette - let them know that we might be printing our morning edition in Gotham."
"We'll do our best," Richard promised.
"And get everyone out there pounding the pavement to get us some answers!" Perry continued. "They're not going to find anything out sitting around here with everything down! Now, move!"
"Yes, sir," Sam and Richard responded in unison as they retreated from the office to carry out the orders.
Perry sank back in his chair and glanced through the glass wall into the bullpen, where Richard and Sam were ushering their teams to the elevators. Hell of a time for all these system failures, he thought. We could be in for a long day...
* * *
Monday, September 25, 2006 4:30PM EDT
Lois had finally recovered her belongings from the plane and secured a Miami hotel room. Once inside the room, she stretched out on the couch, opened her laptop and reviewed her draft of the afternoon's top story. She wasn't happy with it. Most of it was old news, already reported by her fellow passengers. After her earlier reflection on her reporting in recent years, she was determined to recover her old glory and that meant putting in a superior article, not just a reproduction of what everyone else was writing. She'd need to swallow her pride and pull in sources that her peers didn't have access to. She pulled out her phone and dialed the number. "General Lane's office," a youthful man's voice answered. A moment later, Lois began the uncomfortable conversation.
Though crotchety as ever, Sam Lane had broken with precedent and was marginally cooperative with his daughter. Lois was able to read between the lines: Her near-miss with death had scared him. It was still a frustrating conversation, given Sam's reticence over sharing anything useful with her about the EMP. "Dad, I'm not asking you to leak anything classified about it," Lois insisted irritably. "I just... I need something to distinguish my story from what everyone else is writing."
"What exactly are you asking me for?" her father responded gruffly.
"I don't know - a source, maybe?" she began irritably. She softened her tone, and admitted softly, "I'm just trying to pull myself out of a career rut and to do that I need details that nobody else has. Details that some of your tight-lipped friends might have."
"Problems at the office?"
"Yes. No. I don't know," Lois stammered. "I've just realized that I haven't done a real meaty story in awhile and not just because of certain over-protective personalities at the office. I'm off my game and I need to fix that, somehow."
There was silence on the line for a full two minutes before Sam Lane declared, "There may be some people who are authorized to discuss the matter. I'll call you back with names and numbers... Is your cell phone working?"
"Yeah, Dad, the cell number should be fine. Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Sam replied dismissively. He softened his tone, and told her sincerely, "I'm glad you're okay, Lois. Goodbye." Her father hung up before she had a chance to respond to his statement.
It only took a moment for Lois to confirm that there was still no answer from her contacts in Metropolis, where GNN had reported that the EMP damage was the worst. However, she was able to log into the Planet's web portal and she took the opportunity to check her email. The biggest surprise was the Corporate Notification, informing all employees that the paper's disaster plan had been invoked and summarizing what that meant. That explains why nobody's answering the phones there... Hey, they moved up deadline to eight o'clock? That won't leave me much time to get this story together.
The next email was from Richard. He had flown Perry and the other AEs to Gotham on the seaplane and took Jason with him. Why couldn't he have just left him with Lucy or Alice? Jason's going to be bored out of his mind... He always does that, always thinks Jason's better off with him... We're going to need to have a long talk about that. Again.
Lois quickly scanned through her other unread emails. There were messages from her mother and sister, who had witnessed her fall on television and were understandably concerned, messages from her sources on the city contracts scandal, and a message from NASA spokesperson, Bobbie-Faye Roberts, thanking her for her assistance on the plane earlier and informing her of a press conference in Cape Canaveral at ten o'clock the following morning. She flagged the emails she'd need to respond to and set the laptop aside as her thoughts returned to her professional situation.
Before Superman's disappearance, her investigative reporting articles had garnered a dozen award nominations over a five year period, though half of them were jointly with her former partner, Clark Kent. She had been at the top of her game, the envy of her peers, and the worst nightmare of the targets of those investigations. However, in the six years since, only her infamous Superman editorial had caught the attention of any awards panels, and although that had won her a Pulitzer, she was dissatisfied. Though pleased with the quality of her writing, Lois didn't believe that it deserved a Pulitzer and suspected that its selection was due more to nostalgia for the days of Superman and the novelty of his once most-trusted press contact excoriating him so thoroughly.
Lois held investigative reporting in much higher regard than editorials, but her stories in that area were undistinguished in recent years. She had been playing it safe and while her reporting remained solid, it was no longer the outstanding result she had once produced. Lois was determined to change that. I'm getting my game back, she told herself. No more puff pieces - just the real stories. Richard and Perry are simply going to have to accept that the old Lois is back...
* * *
Monday, September 25, 2006 6:15PM CDT
When Clark arrived at the farm house, Martha, Ben and Kara were seated at the dining room table playing Parcheesi. Martha looked up at the sound of the back door and smiled pleasantly as her son walked through the door. "We missed you at dinner," she told him. "I'll warm something up for you."
"There's no need to bother, Ma," Clark protested. "I'm not that hungry."
"Nonsense," Martha insisted, rising from her seat and walking into the kitchen. "You still need to get some meat back on those bones, especially considering what a busy afternoon you've had."
"You heard about that?" Clark asked casually as he set his laptop on the dining room table and booted it up.
"Superman's return is all over the news," Ben informed him. "They also said that Metropolis was hit pretty hard by that EMP."
"That's an understatement," Clark declared. "Every car that was on the road at the time was disabled - took me three hours to get the streets cleared and I spent most of the time after that trying to help the police keep some semblance of control and to get enough interviews scraped together for my stories. The Planet's declared a disaster, by the way. They're printing the morning edition at the Gotham Gazette and trucking the papers the one hundred thirty miles to Metropolis."
"That's nice of them to help out," Martha commented.
"Well, the Gazette is owned by the same corporate parent as the Planet," Clark explained. "There had always been talk that the two papers could be each other's disaster sites, but that was mostly lip service before 9/11. Afterwards, they put their money where their mouths were and beefed up the infrastructure for true redundancy. That investment's paying off now, after what happened at the Planet this afternoon."
"How bad was it?" Martha inquired.
"The electronics in the presses were fried by the EMP, along with the comm equipment fanning out to all the floors," Clark explained. "Miraculously, the computer room was shielded well enough that we didn't lose anything there and the network link to Gotham is still up. They've set up an emergency computer café downstairs next to the computer room for filing stories locally. It's a bit of a zoo down there right now, but the web portal is still up, so I can file my stories from here. Lucky for me that my laptop was powered off when the EMP hit and didn't get fried."
"Quite an interesting first day back, wasn't it?" Ben noted.
"That's one way of putting it," Clark muttered. He turned to Kara and cheerfully asked her, "And how have you been today, Kara?"
"Okay," she answered quietly. "We're playing Parcheesi."
"Well, it sounds like you had more fun than I did," he told her, reaching over and affectionately putting an arm around her. He kissed the top of her head and said seriously, "We've got about a half hour before we have to go see that lady I told you about." Kara nodded and returned her attention to the board game.
* * *
Monday, September 25, 2006 7:45PM EDT
The Gotham Gazette had transformed one of their conference rooms into an emergency command center for the visiting Planet editors, with a half dozen PCs set up on the table. Perry White scrambled to make the final changes before the paper went to press at eight o'clock, along with his three assistant editors, Sam Foswell, George Taylor and his nephew, Richard, who was currently in the men's lavatory with his sick five year old. The poor tyke had a bad reaction to the food that was brought in earlier. Perry again reviewed the layout of the morning edition, displeased that the bulk of the issue was coming from the AP wire service. Unfortunately, they had little choice in the matter. Only a few of the reporters in the city had been able to track down sources, much less file a story, and most of the stories that were filed were lacking in detail.
A pop-up alert appeared on Perry's screen and he looked through the approval queue in the paper's publishing system for the new story submission, a broad smile spreading across his face once he read it. "Halleluiah!" he exclaimed. "I knew she'd come through."
"What've you got?" George asked curiously.
"Lois finally filed her story on Superman's shuttle rescue - just in the nick of time," Perry revealed. "We'll pull the AP shuttle article off the front page and use Lois' version instead, above the fold. Keep the AP picture, front and center under the title 'The Man of Steel Is Back', and put Kent's local impact story below the fold."
"You sure you want to give Kent page one his first day back?" Sam inquired. "He was AWOL all afternoon and we've got a half dozen other local impact stories that were submitted from our veterans."
"Be grateful he was AWOL and went after the story," Perry replied adamantly. "All of our other reporters' stories combined don't have the detail that Kent's has, his is better written, and he submitted two other stories today that are just as good. I didn't hire him back out of the goodness of my heart. I hired him back because he's one of the best I've ever seen."
"That's a well-kept secret," Sam commented.
"And don't you dare reveal it," Perry commanded. "That's probably how Kent wants it, too. Everybody underestimates him, so he flies under the radar and people who turn and run for the hills when they see Lois coming will open up to him."
"I remember how he used to scoop her occasionally," George stated, chuckling at the memory. "She'd get so mad at him that I'd worry she was literally going to kill him."
"The claws didn't come out unless someone else went after Kent and then they weren't directed at him," Perry informed him. "He was her partner and nobody else was allowed to take him on. I never imagined how well partnering those two up would turn out to be."
"Why did you partner them together?" Sam asked.
Perry sighed, trying to find a way to explain what had happened so long ago, even though he knew he didn't have the entire story. "I hired Kent on the strength of his portfolio and recommendations of his previous editors. But the man who came in and filled out the paperwork was an enigma. He didn't match his writing style. So I assigned him to work with Lois. If he was a fraud, she would have rooted it out on their first story. But she didn't.
"They complemented each other's style and they were even finishing each other's sentences when they were deep into something big... They always got the story and usually an exclusive at that. And even though he was practically tongue tied in the newsroom, he was one of the few people able to argue with her and hold his own."
Perry leaned forward in his chair and briefly glanced over at the door as he whispered conspiratorially, "If Kent hadn't taken off like he did, I bet Lois would be with him now, instead of Richard. They were that good together."
The group was quiet for a moment before Sam broke the silence. "I can pull him out of obits tomorrow, if you want me to," he offered.
"Nah, let him sweat it another day," Perry insisted. "He's more productive when he's nervous - having him work with Lois did wonders on that count, too... Now, let's get this paper to bed and call it a night."
Monday, September 25, 2006 9:30PM CDT
Kara was tucked into her bed, tightly clinging to the plush toy penguin that had become her favorite night-time accessory as her mind drifted in that nebulous place between sleep and consciousness. She was comforted by Shelby's breathing and heartbeat at the foot of the bed and was vaguely aware of voices niggling at the back of her mind. The voices became an increasing distraction and she unconsciously extended her hearing, as her adoptive father had taught her, and recognized his voice along with her grandmother's.
They were talking about Praveena, the lady that they had seen earlier that night. She got really excited when Kal-El told her who they really were, and then she asked a whole lot of questions about what had happened on Krypton and how they felt about it. After they finished talking and her dad brought her home, he went back to talk to Praveena alone.
"I think we'll do okay with this psychologist," Clark whispered. "As overwhelmed as she was by the revelation, she still had the presence of mind to tell me to be quiet... She didn't want me influencing Kara's responses."
"That sounds like a good sign," Martha whispered back. "What did she say about the nightmares?"
"That there's no quick fix. It can take children a long time to heal from a traumatic loss and we'll need to be patient. It could also get worse before it gets better and there could be 'incidents' if sensory cues remind her of the loss."
"I thought she was improving," Martha commented quietly.
"Doctor Gupta thinks it's possible that she hasn't even begun to process the trauma yet," Clark explained. "She might be spending all her mental energy right now on assimilation: learning the language and culture or trying to fit in at school. There might not be enough left over to deal with her loss."
"What can we do?"
"Keep making it clear to her that she has our unconditional love and support - she seems to think she's a burden. Doctor Gupta said that her best ally in her recovery is the family, which includes the Hubbards now. And things Kara can't articulate well may come out in her play or creativity, so we should allow plenty of time for that and keep her supplied with paper and crayons. Doctor Gupta wants us to watch for anything unusual."
Martha sighed and the two were quiet for a moment. "I wish this was easier for her," she lamented.
Kara recalled the conversation with Praveena and all the questions about what had happened before they left Krypton. She hadn't been able to answer them all and the nice lady wouldn't let Kal-El answer for her. Her parents had been upset with her for wandering off, but she had wanted to play with her friends. Her parents were now dead because of the delay. Her playmates were dead now, too. Kara felt the tears come and tried to stay quiet while her body shook from the sobs.
She soon felt Shelby's rough tongue licking away the tears and shortly after that her dad lifted her from her bed, pulled her onto his lap and held her. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly as the sobs wracked her body. Eventually, her crying subsided and Kara muttered, "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" he asked sympathetically. "You haven't done anything wrong."
"I heard one of the teachers at school say that I was a lot of work for you," she whimpered.
Clark shifted her in his lap so he could look her in the eyes. "Kara, listen to me. You're not a lot of work and even if you were, you'd be worth it. You may not have been born my daughter, but you are my daughter now, and there is nothing more important to me. Finding you and bringing you home was one of the best things that's happened to me. So don't worry about what other people say. They don't always know what they're talking about." Kara snuggled into her dad's chest while he patiently rocked her. She eventually relaxed in his arms and fell asleep.
* * *
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 8:25AM EDT
Jimmy Olsen woke with a start from the pounding on his front door. He sleepily looked over at his nonfunctional alarm clock, which had been damaged in the EMP. Finally registering that the clock display was blank, he felt around on top of the night stand for his watch and pulled it into view. Oh, no, he though, I'm so late! Jimmy scrambled out of bed, quickly pulling on pants and a shirt, and ran into the other room to answer the door. He was surprised to see Clark standing there. His friend had the morning paper tucked under one arm, with the opposite arm behind his back. "No time to talk. I overslept," Jimmy sputtered. He left the door open for Clark and sprinted back into the bedroom.
"Jimmy, relax," Clark called out. "The office is closed today. We just have to dial into the conference call at nine."
Jimmy poked his head out of the bedroom. "Closed?" he asked.
"There was a message on the info line," Clark explained. "Everybody's supposed to call in for status."
"My phone was fried in the EMP."
"Well, you're in luck," Clark declared. He displayed the box he'd been hiding behind his back, which was a new cordless phone. "I figured you'd need this and it's also my way of saying thanks for letting me pour out my heart about Kara yesterday."
"Gee, Clark, you didn't need to do that," Jimmy replied quietly. "That's what friends are for... Thanks, though... Oh, it even has two handsets?" Jimmy tore the box open like a kid at Christmastime, and quickly went to work plugging in the base and installing batteries in the handsets before the moment of truth came. He pressed the talk button and lifted the handset to his ear. "Yes! We have dial-tone!" Jimmy exclaimed.
"I was thinking... I could pick up coffee and bagels while you get cleaned up and dressed and we can dial into the conference call from here," Clark suggested.
"Deal," Jimmy agreed happily. He disappeared back into the bedroom while Clark let himself out of the apartment.
* * *
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 9:05AM EDT
Jimmy set his new phone to speakerphone mode and called into the conference call while he and Clark finished off the bagels and coffee. There were numerous beeps as others joined the call bridge before George Taylor's voice finally broke in. "Well, we might as well get started. Everyone, please put your phones on mute. The background noise could get a bit too distracting otherwise... Okay... First, the Planet is still in disaster mode. We won't be putting out an afternoon edition today and tomorrow's morning edition will be printed here in Gotham again. That means we go to press at eight o'clock tonight.
"If we get all the parts delivered here in Gotham this afternoon like we're hoping, we'll be back up and operational in Metropolis tomorrow morning. However, it will probably take a couple days to get replacement phones and PCs on everyone's desk. It'll still be enough to run the business, though. We're still in business today, too, but you'll either have to use the emergency computer café and phone bank next to the computer room, or if you can find a functional PC and Internet access, dial in remotely. The company will be posting status updates on our return to normal operations to the web portal and updating the message on the info line, so check before heading into work tomorrow. Perry?"
Perry White's gruff voice barked out his instructions. "All right, everyone. Listen up! Despite the disaster, we still have a paper to put out and I don't want to print another thin edition like we had this morning. Everyone needs to get their acts together and get their stories in and the story is Superman. I want to know it all. Everything. Olsen, I want photos. Iconic photos of Superman under stadium lights. Sports! How are they going to get that plane out of the stadium? Travel! Where's he been? Fashion! Is that a new suit? Health! Has he lost weight? What's he been eating? Business! How will his return affect the market? Lifestyle... 'Superman Returns'."
There was a momentary pause, before Perry added, "Well, what's everyone sitting around for? Hang up those phones and get out there! We have a paper to publish!" Clark and Jimmy heard a series of beeps as everyone hung up their phones before they also disconnected from the call.
"How am I going to get iconic photos?" Jimmy complained. "He never stands still long enough to get a good shot."
"Well, there are a few spots around town where he'll probably show up," Clark suggested. "The FEMA command center, for instance. They're set up in the Meteor Dome. "
"FEMA's here?"
"They rolled in last night. National Guard's here now, too. In fact, Met Transit is using Guard buses for their routes this morning. Good thing, because they don't have many of their own buses working and they only had two of the trains fixed in time for the morning commute. The only lines running are Glenmorgan and Bakerline."
"Good thing I have my scooter," Jimmy commented. "There's enough room on the back to give you a ride down there with me. You're covering the FEMA stuff, right? You've got to be out of obits now with that front page story this morning."
"Actually, I had an email from Sam this morning that said he's still expecting me to do the obits," Clark muttered. He looked up at Jimmy and continued, "I'll pass on the ride. I'm heading in the other direction, but thanks for the offer. Maybe I'll catch up with you later, though."
"Well, if you're sure you don't need a ride," Jimmy replied. "I guess we'd better get going." Clark nodded his agreement and the two men left the apartment and headed out to their respective destinations.
* * *
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 9:30AM EDT
Lex Luthor found himself in an extraordinarily good mood as he relaxed to the sounds of Vivaldi's Spring in the study of the Vanderworth mansion. Everything was going precisely according to his plan. The crystal sliver had produced a cross sectional area of nearly seven hundred square feet. Given its logarithmic growth curve, the remainder of his crystal seed would produce a continent of nearly twenty-five million square miles. It would consume most of North and Central America, over the course of a week, which would be plenty of time for those with means to transfer their fortunes to LuthorCorp in exchange for a small ocean-front apartment on Luthorland. It was coming just in the nick of time, too. Most of the Vanderworth fortune was still tied up in probate and he'd nearly depleted the allowance Gertrude had provided for him.
Lex meticulously calculated the growth of his continent over each twenty-four hour period, entering the information into the mapping application on his PC and generating the corresponding maps. We'll need to get these maps printed before we plant the 'seed', Lex thought. There won't be anyone left to do it afterwards. A sinister smile graced his face at the thought of his vision finally coming to fruition. The Luthor hegemony will soon begin.
Lex had just finished with the new maps when Grant entered the study and interrupted him. "Here's the paper you wanted, Mister Luthor," Grant informed him.
"Thank you, Grant," Lex answered, the rare words of appreciation indicating his unusually upbeat disposition. He came out from behind the desk, took the folded paper, and continued walking through the French doors to join Kitty on the balcony. His smile and good humor evaporated when he unfolded the paper and caught sight of the front page headline and full color picture of Superman. He turned on Grant, holding the paper up to him. "What the hell is this? Some kind of joke?" he demanded to know. "The alien is dead!"
Kitty walked up behind the pair and peered around Lex to get a look at the front page. "He's cute," she commented. Lex glared menacingly at her before returning his attention to Grant.
"It's, um... it's all over the news," Grant stammered. "He rescued the Genesis shuttle and was busy all over Metropolis after the EMP yesterday afternoon. It's been running on GNN all last night and this morning."
"And you didn't think that was important enough to tell me?" Luther shouted. "What do you think he's going to do when he realizes that he's been robbed?" The color drained from Grant's face as he considered that possibility.
Lex marched back into the study, turned on the television, and flipped the station to GNN. They were running the plane rescue again, just as Grant had described. "No!" Lex screamed. "Not now! Not when I'm so close!" He sank into the chair behind the desk, opened the paper and quickly read through the story. He afterwards dropped his head into his hands, rubbing the bridge of his nose while he analyzed the new information.
When I tracked him years ago, he was constantly heading north to the Fortress, Lex thought. He's probably already been back there, which means he knows the crystals have been taken and he may even have linked it to the EMP. If he tracks that back here, we'd be powerless to stop him from taking my crystals. I can't let that happen.
I suppose I could accelerate my plans to seed Luthorland, but I'd have to bring Jor-El online to access those advanced alien weapons and I can't even do that until it grows a new console, Lex contemplated. And if the A.I. recognizes the House of El family crest on the freak's chest, it might try to identify him before shooting him down, and if it identifies him as Kal-El...
No, it's time for a strategic withdrawal, Lex decided. I need to level the playing field first and take the alien out before bringing Jor-El online. "Everybody back to the yacht," Lex commanded. "We're getting out of here."
"I'm sick of that boat," Kitty complained. "Why can't we stay here?"
"Once again... what do you think the alien is going to do when he realizes he's been robbed?" Lex asked condescendingly. "And do you really want to be here when he figures out who it was that robbed him?" Kitty rolled her eyes and hurried out of the room behind Grant while Lex quickly gathered the crystals into a black cloth and followed them out.
* * *
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 10:00AM EDT
Lois settled back in her seat in the front row of Cape Canaveral's conference hall and waited for Bobbie-Faye Roberts to step up to the podium. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen," she began. "It's good to see everyone safe and sound after yesterday's adventure. As you know, the Genesis shuttle successfully launched into orbit despite yesterday's technical difficulties during the launch, and the initial performance tests have confirmed our assertions on the shuttle's design..."
After spending the next fifteen minutes spewing NASA's public relations spin on the nearly disastrous launch, the time finally came for questions. Lois immediately shouted out to Bobbie-Faye and was awarded with the first question. "Miss Lane," Bobbie Faye acknowledged.
"Two questions," Lois began. "One, is NASA now willing to acknowledge what a foolishly reckless publicity stunt it was to host yesterday's press conference on an unproven, experimental airframe, instead of holding it in this room, where press conferences are usually held? And two, given the magnitude of the EMP that disabled the shuttle's clamp release mechanism yesterday, how can NASA be confident that no other shuttle systems were compromised and that you'll be able to bring the astronauts safely home Saturday? Could we be looking at another Challenger?"
Bobbie-Faye frowned as she nervously delivered the scripted response. "Nobody could have anticipated yesterday's events. Metropolis hospitals are full of people this morning who thought they were safe on the ground yesterday afternoon-"
"We wouldn't all have nearly died yesterday if we'd been sitting in this room," Lois interrupted. "And we wouldn't be alive this morning to debate it but for the unexpected intervention of an external party."
"Then you'll be happy to know that the NASA administrator has strictly forbidden airborne press conferences moving forward, citing safety concerns," Bobbie-Faye informed her. "Future press conferences will continue to be held here in this room... Next question?"
"What about my second question?" Lois protested.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat it?" Bobbie-Faye asked politely.
"Given the magnitude of the EMP that disabled the shuttle's clamp release mechanism yesterday, how can NASA be confident that no other shuttle systems were compromised and that you'll be able to bring the astronauts safely home? Could we be looking at another Challenger?"
"The new shuttle was designed for a far more hostile environment than what the EMP presented yesterday. In fact, the metal skin surrounding the shuttle body would act as a Faraday cage to insulate the internal systems from the effects of an EMP-"
"Then why did the clamps fail to release yesterday?" Lois inquired insistently.
"The clamps extended beneath the belly of the shuttle, outside the protective skin," Bobbie-Faye answered. "But rest assured that all systems will be put through a rigorous testing and inspection process before the Genesis returns this weekend..."
* * *
Lois walked into her hotel room, smugly satisfied that she'd thoroughly raked NASA over the coals at the press conference. It was nothing like the condescending dismissal her questions had provoked the previous day. Yes, the old Lois Lane is definitely back, she concluded. The other journalists at the press conference had followed her lead, challenging the obvious spin on the previous day's events and pressing for details on NASA's plans for verifying the shuttle's systems. Science and technology wasn't her forte, but the controversy over NASA's disregard of obvious safety hazards until after an event occurred was right up her alley. It might even make the front page.
Lois pulled out that morning's Daily Planet, which she had purchased at a book store on the way to the NASA news conference. Though gratified that her story was above the fold, she was more interested in the other front page article: "EMP Causes Chaos Across City" by Clark Kent. The EMP is the real story here, Lois concluded. And it's happening in Metropolis while I'm stuck here in Florida. Both of Metropolis' major airports were still closed and other airports in the region were clogged up with travelers seeking alternate arrangements. The earliest commercial flight she could get was Wednesday morning, flying into Philadelphia and driving to Metropolis in a one-way rental. She was forced to accept that flight because with the Planet in disaster mode, she couldn't ask Richard to fly down and get her.
Well, I can still try to ping my contacts in Metropolis, Lois thought. If their phones are working, that is. It's probably safe to assume that the cell phones are still out. Lois booted up her laptop, accessed her contacts list, and punched in a number on her cell phone. "Ninth precinct, Sergeant Jimenez," a woman answered.
"Lois Lane, Daily Planet," Lois introduced herself. "I'm trying to reach Bill Henderson."
"The Planet, you say? One of your people is already with the inspector. I forget the name. Big guy, black hair, glasses. Tripping over his own feet."
"Kent," Lois hissed.
"Yeah, that's it."
"Can you put the call through?" Lois requested with false cheer.
"He's not available."
"Just tell him it's me," Lois insisted. "He'll take the call."
"Ma'am, I'm not a secretary," the sergeant answered shortly. "We have much more important things to worry about right now than coddling the press, especially when someone else from your paper already got through to the inspector. Good-bye."
I'm going to kill him, Lois seethed. His second day back and he's already trying to steal my story and scoop me. She set down her cell phone and looked up another name from her contact list. Two can play at that game, farm boy.
* * *
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 5:30PM CDT
Superman extended his X-ray vision through his mother's house as he approached over the corn. Ben was there, as expected, but he was surprised to see Becky Hayden also sitting down at the dinner table. I guess Kara had a playmate over this afternoon, he concluded. He slipped in through the back door a moment later and joined the family in the dining room. "Hello, everyone," he greeted them. He pulled Kara into a quick hug, and kissed the top of her head. "Have you girls been having fun?"
"I don't know," Kara mumbled noncommittally.
Clark turned to his mother and asked, "Is everything all right?"
"There was an accident over at the stables this afternoon," Martha informed him quietly. "Some of the floor boards gave way and Tom fell through. He broke his leg pretty bad and they flew him to Wichita to operate on it. Sarah's with him and Ben's watching Becky overnight."
"I wish you'd told me that earlier," Clark complained. "Maybe I could have helped."
"He was in good hands and he'll be fine," Ben assured him. "He'll be climbing the walls laid up in the hospital for a couple days, but he'll be okay. If you'd like to help, though, I could probably use a hand inspecting their place for any more rotted floorboards."
"We can take a look at it after dinner."
* * *
When Clark and Ben returned from the Hayden's place, they found both girls doing their homework at the dining room table, with Martha supervising. Clark smiled at them as he walked into the room and asked, "How's the homework coming?"
"I'm almost done," Becky replied cheerfully.
"I'm not," Kara muttered.
"I'll help you go through it after I make a few phone calls."
"I can make the calls," Ben offered.
"What did you find?" Martha asked.
"Termites," Clark answered. "The stables are infested and it's not something that I can easily take care of. We'll need to get someone down from Wichita to handle it and find someplace else for the animals to stay while they're working on it. Once that's done, I can replace the boards."
"The Robertson's had a termite problem on their house a few years back," Ben recalled. "I'll give Chris a call and find out who they used. They seemed pretty happy with them. I'll also call Frank Long and see if he has room for the horses for a few nights." Ben excused himself and withdrew to the kitchen to make his calls.
Clark sat down beside Kara, peeked over her shoulder and scanned her work. It looked like math came easily to her and her eidetic memory made answering the social studies questions effortless. However, the creative writing assignment was a struggle for her. She was supposed to write about something important that had happened to her, why it was important, and what lesson she learned from it. The page was still blank. "Are you having trouble coming up with something?" Clark whispered.
"You said we couldn't tell anyone about Krypton," Kara whispered back sadly, almost inaudibly.
"I have an idea," Clark whispered to her. "You can write one about Krypton for Doctor Gupta, and maybe another one about coming to Smallville for your teacher here. Do you think that would work?" Kara nodded, and her brow wrinkled in concentration as she tried to figure out what to write. "Let's get the Smallville one done first," Clark suggested.
When Ben returned from making his calls, he found Becky on the living room floor watching television and Clark huddled with Kara at the dining room table, working on whatever assignment she was struggling with. Martha walked over when she noticed him. "Did you get everything arranged?" she asked.
"I left a message with the exterminator and Frank said he had room for the animals," Ben informed her. He looked over at the tableau in the dining room and commented, "He seems to be adjusting to fatherhood rather well."
"He had a good role model," Martha whispered. "Kara's in good hands." She indulged in a brief glance over at her son and granddaughter as she guided Ben into the living room and reclaimed her seat on the couch. Kara couldn't have asked for a better adoptive father, Martha contemplated. Perhaps he'll realize that someday.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 1:30PM EDT
Lois Lane stormed into the Daily Planet bullpen looking for a fight, but the target of her wrath was nowhere to be found. She shouldn't have been surprised, considering his talent for pulling a Houdini on her before he left on his trip six years earlier. The forced delay in the confrontation only served to stoke her anger at his interference - he'd already spoken to every last one of the Metropolis sources she'd tried to corner over the phone the previous evening, and to add insult to injury, he even managed a front page story from it, below the fold. Lois needed to vent her rage and scanned the bullpen for an outlet, spotting Jimmy at his desk, fiddling with his camera.
"Jimmy!" Lois hollered as she marched over to his desk. "Where the hell is Clark?"
"Oh, hi, Miss Lane," Jimmy greeted. "Are you okay? How was Florida?"
"Fine, fine. Where's Clark?" Lois pressed.
"He was here a minute ago," Jimmy informed her. "He said something earlier about needing to talk to a lawyer about his daughter. Maybe that's where he went."
"Daughter?" Lois echoed incredulously. "I must not have heard you right."
"Didn't he tell you?" Jimmy asked. Lois shook her head and Jimmy continued, "Oh, um, her mom never told Clark. He didn't find out about her until a few weeks ago, after her mother died in that tsunami. Actually that entire side of the family got wiped out. She's seven and Clark just met her for the first time a few weeks ago. The kid's had a tough adjustment - nightmares and lots of tears."
"Jesus," Lois whispered.
"Yeah," Jimmy agreed. "Should I warn Clark that you're looking for him?"
"I need to talk to him about his story this morning."
"Wasn't that a great story?" Jimmy asked cheerfully. "It's his second front page in two days. Sam will have to pull him off obits now!"
"Obits?" Lois asked. "What's he doing in obits?"
"Oh, didn't he tell you about that?" Jimmy asked innocently.
"I haven't spoken to the man in six years!" Lois shouted. "What's he doing in obits?"
"Sam assigned him there the moment he finished processing in," Jimmy explained. "He even told Clark that he wouldn't have hired him back, if it had been up to him. He still made him do obits yesterday, after that great front page story he turned in. Clark's been desperate to prove he still has what it takes. You'd think that two front page stories in two days would be proof enough."
"He's still stuck in obits?" Lois asked incredulously.
"Yes. No. I'm not really sure," Jimmy stammered. "I think he would have said something if he'd been pulled off... Sam should really cut him some slack. Between telling him he doesn't belong here, his daughter's problems, and his mom getting remarried, Clark's more stressed out than I've ever seen him, though he's putting up a brave front."
Lois was silent for a moment as she considered the information. I'd be a first class bitch if I chewed him a new one now, she thought. But we're still going to have to have a little talk about this. Aloud, she said, "I'll talk to Perry about that. But when you see Clark, let me know. I really need to talk to him about that story."
"Does that mean you two are going to be partners again?" Jimmy asked hopefully. "It'd be great, if you were. Just like old times!"
Lois frowned and her brow wrinkled in contemplation as she considered the possibility. "You know, I really hadn't thought about it," she finally admitted. "I haven't had a partner in ages... I guess we'll just have to play that by ear."
* * *
Superman was powerless to prevent the smile that graced his features at the sound of Lois' voice as he approached the Daily Planet building. Not only was she back, she was taking Perry to task for burying her 'partner' in obituaries. Even better, Perry had conceded that it was time to let him out of obits, though he wasn't backing down either, arguing that he had both the right and obligation to make sure that Clark Kent took the job seriously. Well, at least she doesn't seem to be upset with her old partner, like she seems to be with Superman, he thought. Though, my super-self is going to have to explain himself to her sooner or later.
A moment later, Clark Kent sat at his desk and logged back into his laptop, turning slightly to catch the tableau in Perry's office as he continued eavesdropping. Lois and Perry were soon joined by another man, who greeted Lois with a quick kiss on the lips. Clark recognized him from the family photo on Lois' desk. I'm not sure that kiss was entirely appropriate for the office, he thought. Clark was surprised when the greeting quickly degenerated into bickering over Richard's bringing Jason into the office and at his suggestion that they take the afternoon off.
Clark was interrupted from his eavesdropping by the small voice beside him. "Hello," Jason greeted him. "Who are you?"
"Hi. I'm Clark, an old friend of your mom's from before you were born."
"Really? She's never mentioned you."
"Never?" Clark asked, disappointed.
"Jason," Lois called sternly. The little boy turned at his mother's voice and ran into her arms. "I missed you, too," Lois told him, hugging him tightly and kissing the top of his head. "Did you remember to take your medicine?" Lois asked, releasing her grip only slightly to look him in the eye as she went down the list of medicines.
She turned to Clark and commented, "I see you've met the munchkin. He's a bit fragile, but he'll grow up to be big and strong just like his dad, won't you?" Jason absently nodded as he squirmed to escape his mother's hug.
"Yeah, we were just talking. He seems like a great kid."
"And I hear you have a munchkin at home now, too," Lois commented pleasantly.
"Oh, um, right. Kara. It's a long story," Clark stammered.
"Jimmy gave me the short version, but you'll have to tell me everything once we get a chance to catch up," Lois insisted.
"There's the little guy," Richard called as he approached them. He picked up the escaping child and lifted him to his hip. He turned to Clark, and extended his hand. "You must be Clark. I'm Richard White."
"Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise," Richard replied cheerfully. "Nice job on those blackout stories."
"Should have been my story," Lois commented irritably.
"You weren't here," Richard reminded her sternly.
"I am now," Lois replied icily.
"Oh, well I think my sources on it are drying up," Clark muttered. His brow wrinkled in concentration for a moment, he turned back to Lois and asked enigmatically, "Say, does your dad still work at the Pentagon?" He noticed Lois bite her lower lip and tuck her chin, and he probed her pulse and breathing with his senses. Ah, so you have talked to him about the EMP, Clark concluded.
Before Lois had a chance to respond, Richard chuckled and told Clark, "I know where you're going with this, but you're barking up the wrong tree, Clark. Lois and her dad don't talk. We've practically got to send them to separate rooms at holiday gatherings just to keep the peace."
Clark looked at Richard with a stunned expression, then back to Lois. After another brief glance back to Richard, he turned to Lois and asked, "So what did your dad have to say about this?"
"As little as possible," Lois answered stiffly. "He did identify some officials who would talk about it, but most of what they gave me was off the record. Suffice it to say, they're freaking out."
"They don't have any idea what caused the EMP..." Clark concluded.
"...and they've got so much equipment along the coast looking for an explanation that you can't spit without hitting some of it," Lois finished for him. "It's producing more questions than answers, though, and there were some very disturbing and surprising measurements from some major U.S. cities."
Clark's eyes went wide as comprehension dawned on him. "The background radiation..." he whispered.
"...which is much, much higher that it could possibly be naturally. In places like Boston and Pittsburgh..." Lois continued.
"...but not in Metropolis, where the EMP appears to have originated..."
"...and they haven't been able to narrow down what part of the city it came from."
"But if we can track down which grid went down first..."
"...we'd be able to narrow the search," Lois concluded. "You've done your homework on this, but it's my story now."
While Lois and Clark had been talking, Richard's had looked from one to the other, like a spectator at a tennis match. Finally sensing an opening, he interrupted. "Whoa, hold on a minute. You talked to your father about this? You didn't tell me that."
"Well, maybe next time you'll know enough not to answer when someone asks me a question!" Lois snapped. "Take Jason home. I have work to do."
"Where are you going?" Richard asked, the annoyance clear in his voice.
"Power plant," Lois answered. "Maybe they can give us a clue where this mess started."
"Um, Lois, that's not really necessary," Clark began.
"Forget it, Smallville," Lois shouted over her shoulder. "My story now, remember?"
"But, I've-"
"Stop arguing with me, farm boy," Lois called out to him as the elevator doors began closing behind her. "I'm already gone."
"Well, there she goes," Clark commented. "Same old Lois."
"Yeah," Richard agreed. "It doesn't matter how close we get, that woman will always be a mystery to me." Clark briefly had an incredulous look on his face before masking his expression. Richard turned to him and asked, "So, what was it you were trying to tell Lois as she ran out of here?"
"Oh, um, I... Well, um, I just... I just got back from the power plant," Clark admitted, and his lips turned up into a smirk as he looked out into the elevator lobby where Lois had gone, following the car down with his X-ray vision. "They're not saying much, but I have enough for tomorrow's story."
Richard nodded neutrally as he followed Clark's gaze into the elevator lobby. "Well, she'll probably stop trying to steal your story once she realizes that you're that far ahead of her," Richard suggested hopefully. "I might even be able to talk her into taking some well-deserved time off once she gets back."
Clark was barely able to mask his shocked expression at Richard's grossly inaccurate prediction of the woman he knew and loved. Are we talking about the same Lois Lane? Clark wondered to himself. Either I've fallen into a parallel universe, or you don't really know the woman you're engaged to.
* * *
Richard had been sorely mistaken about Lois' reaction to learning that Clark had already been to the power plant. Rather than quietly abandoning her quest, she returned to the Planet in a rage. "Hold it right there, Smallville," she screamed across the bullpen the moment she spotted him, and attracting everyone's attention in the process. Perry and Sam stepped out of their offices to see what the commotion was about as Lois continued her tirade. "You probably thought that was pretty funny, didn't you? Letting me waste the past two hours when you'd already tapped the source."
"Lois, I tried to tell you," Clark reminded her patiently.
"This shit stops now!" she shouted. "I was willing to cut you some slack, because I know what you've been going through, but I'm not going to stand back and let you steal all of my sources."
"Lois, what are you talking about?" Clark asked in genuine confusion. "I've just been pounding the pavement-"
"Bullshit!" Lois hollered. "All week, every single source I've managed to track down here in the city had already talked to you!"
Perry viewed the scene from his position near his office and allowed a small smile to grace his features. "Music to my ears," he muttered quietly.
"You like having her pissed off like that?" Sam asked incredulously.
"It's the professional rivalry between those two," Perry explained in a low voice. "They'll keep trying to outdo each other and end up pushing each other to be the best of the best, and that puts the Midas touch on their stories. It also means that we've got our old Lois back - about damn time."
"Just like old times," George agreed.
Perry nodded and noticed that the pair had the rapt attention of the entire bullpen. We can't have that. "Hey!" Perry hollered. "This is a newspaper, not a circus! It isn't like it's the first time we've ever heard her yell, so everyone get back to work!"
Lois and Clark both looked over at Perry briefly before returning to their argument. "I suppose you already have the story written, too." Lois angrily accused him in a loud whisper.
"Lois, I didn't know you were interested in it or when you'd get back," Clark reasoned. "I couldn't just sit and let the story get stale, or worse, let the competition scoop us."
"You should have let me know," Lois insisted. "We could have worked it together."
"I would have liked that," Clark confessed. He softened his tone and said, "If it's any consolation, they weren't telling me much at the power plant, and the story is not that great at this point. I'll be lucky if Perry prints it at all... Did you have any better luck with them?"
"No. Clark, the EMP is my story now," Lois insisted. "You can do the FEMA coverage." She turned on her heel, and marched back to her desk, dropping her head in her hands the moment she sat down. After a couple minutes, she finally raised her head and logged into her laptop. There's got to be another way to break this story open and find sources that Clark hasn't already explored. She launched an online search, looking for anything on the EMP that might have been overlooked.
* * *
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 6:15PM EDT
Superman floated unseen above the clouds, silently observing the family tableau in the riverfront home two miles below him. After Lois' surprising comment to Clark Kent as they left the office, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her. "Have you ever been in love?" she had asked. "Ever feel that connection so strongly with a person that you just knew you were meant to be together? And then, they suddenly disappear on you without a word?" Maybe Jimmy was right, he thought. She is still in love with me, at least this part of me. Maybe that's why she's so furious with me.
His senses had been precisely tuned to her while he patrolled Metropolis, until he could resist the temptation no longer and settled into his airborne hiding place to covertly observe them. They had just finished cleaning up after dinner, Jason was practicing Heart and Soul on the piano, and Lois was leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping from a glass of wine. "I did a little research while I was home with Jason this afternoon," Richard began. "I read your Superman article." Superman was surprised to detect a nervous edge in his voice.
"'Why the World Doesn't Need Superman'."
"No, not that one," Richard corrected her. "The first one. 'I Spent the Night With Superman'."
Lois rolled her eyes. "Richard," she complained, "Your uncle chose that title to sell more papers. It was a story."
"I know," Richard conceded. "I told myself that I'd never ask this, but I need to know... Were you in love with him?"
"He's Superman!" Lois countered. "Everyone was in love with him."
"But were you?" Richard pressed.
Lois sighed irritably and stared at the floor for a moment, as she pensively rubbed the bridge of her nose. Finally, she lifted her head, looked Richard in the eyes and quietly answered, "No."
Her answer produced starkly different responses from the two men who heard her. Two miles above, a hero's heart broke and he quickly pulled himself away from the tableau, speeding across the continent to the family that was waiting for him. The man before her, however, felt his spirits lift and his confidence grow as an unseen weight fell from his shoulders. Richard smiled widely and told her, "Well, it's still a good thing he came back when he did." His tone turned somber as he emotionally told her, "I came so close to losing you on that plane."
"Well, I survived, so you can stop stressing out over it."
"But if anything had happened... I wouldn't even have been able to bring you home," Richard lamented.
"There wouldn't have been anything left. We'd all have been smashed to smithereens and incinerated in the fireball," Lois countered.
"That's not what I meant," Richard explained. "If there had been... remains." Richard paused and took a sip of his wine. He sighed tiredly and then continued, "Husbands can bring their wives home, but not fiancés."
"Jesus, Richard," Lois complained. "You're saying we need to make it official so you can claim my dead body? How romantic."
"You know what I'm trying to say, Lois. I had a lot of time to think about things after the close call on that plane. I assumed that you had, too."
"Oh, I had quite the epiphany," Lois said dramatically. "By all means, let's talk about that plane. What the hell was I doing there, anyway? Seems to me that just a few days ago, I had this really interesting story on the city sludge contracts. But, lo and behold, the moment you find out about a potential InterGang link, I get mysteriously taken off that story, and have some Genesis shuttle puff piece forced on me."
"That wasn't a puff piece," Richard argued.
"But it was supposed to be!" Lois shouted. "It was a strictly managed NASA P.R. event, and if that wasn't bad enough, it was a Science and Technology piece, which isn't my forte, as you know damn well. Did you watch that press conference Monday? I was out of my element and it showed. I looked like a damned fool!"
"You more than made up for it yesterday," Richard offered.
"It was a different story yesterday, but that's beside the point!" Lois hollered. "The point is that every time I get into an interesting story and there's even a hint of danger, you pull strings to get me off the story and shove something nice and safe down my throat! Guess you screwed up with the shuttle, huh?"
"Lois, it's-"
"Don't insult my intelligence by denying it!"
Richard's shoulders sagged and he quietly said, "No story is worth getting killed over."
"I'm not a God damned porcelain doll!" Lois protested. "I don't need to be kept up on a shelf, nice and safe!"
"If anything were to happen to you-"
"I can take care of myself!" Lois insisted. "Richard, you don't get anywhere in this business by being risk adverse. But you've been imposing your risk aversion onto me and damaging my career in the process."
"What are you talking about? You just won a Pulitzer!"
"For an editorial, which was probably only chosen because of nostalgia for Superman and the novelty of his most vocal former advocate ripping him to shreds. It shouldn't have won. My award should have been for investigative reporting, but those stories have garnered absolutely no attention for me in recent years."
"Not everybody can win, no matter how good they are," Richard explained sympathetically.
"Then how do you explain my first five years at the Planet?" Lois told him angrily. "I had over a dozen nominations for investigative reporting, and I won two Kerths and a Merriweather. I wasn't playing it safe back then and my writing was noticed. But in the last six years, nothing."
"You didn't have a family back then," Richard pointed out.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Lois snapped. "That I can't do my job now, because I'm a mother?"
"Lois-"
"I'm through playing it safe, White, so you had damn well better get used to it!" she interrupted. She then turned on her heel and marched out the patio doors, grabbing her cigarettes and lighter from her purse on the way.
What the hell just happened here? Richard wondered. This wasn't at all how things were supposed to go. Richard had planned a quiet afternoon at the park, reconnecting as a family, and afterwards leaving Jason with Perry and Alice, so that he and Lois could have a romantic evening out and finally nail down a wedding date. However, his fiancée hadn't cooperated. She flat out refused to take the afternoon off, saying that she wasn't going to get caught on the sidelines while the story of the year was going on. She'd also vetoed the evening out, since she had hardly seen their son over the past few days and wasn't about to abandon him with a sitter. It was almost like he'd been dealing with a stranger, rather than the woman he'd lived and worked with the past five and half years. Sometimes, I wonder if I know her at all, he lamented.
"Daddy?" a small voice interrupted uncertainly. Richard turned and saw Jason standing at the edge of the room with a sad expression on his face. "Why's Mommy so mad?"
Richard walked over to him and lifted the boy to his hip. "It's okay, kiddo," Richard consoled him. "She just had a bad day. Things will be better tomorrow... How's your piano practice coming?"
Lois heard their voices through the glass door, and turned to see Richard pick up their son and carry him into the other room. Great, now I've upset Jason, too, she told herself. I really hadn't meant to be that harsh when I brought this up, but why did he have to go and use this as an excuse to nag me about wedding plans?
She again reflected on the state of her career and was forced to concede that her professional malaise hadn't entirely been his fault. She could have dug in her heels and insisted on sticking with the stories. As she had reminded herself over the past couple of days, she'd been playing it safe, too. Well, I can apologize to him later, she determined. If he brings it up. She exhaled the tobacco smoke and turned her gaze skyward, searching the clouds for the hero's movements. Will you be there to pull my ass out of the fire if I get in over my head? she wondered. Or will you keep your distance, like you did just before you left?
* * *
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 10:45PM EDT
I'm getting tired of these delays, Lex Luthor thought, as the Gertrude pulled into Boston Harbor. Most of the previous two days were a total loss, spent on a heading south to Cuba, before discovering that the essential ingredient to leveling the playing field was in the New England city and turning the ship around. It was a sample in a meteorite display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, on loan from the Cairo Museum for an exhibit that ran through Sunday. Lex reflected on his brilliance in identifying the substance and lamented that the media never credited him with its discovery when discussing kryptonite.
After Superman had provided that revealing first interview, Lex had poured over it studiously, looking for weaknesses, when he recalled an article about a meteorite exhibiting unusual radiation. Though he hadn't realized it originated from the same planet as the alien, he had instinctively theorized that it would affect him. The meteorite was one of twenty-eight samples that had rained down across Africa from Ethiopia to Cameroon in a 1978 meteor shower.
He had stolen the largest sample shortly after Superman's original appearance, making the leap of faith that it would bring the alien to his knees. He had been right, and his grandiose plan for wealth and power would have succeeded but for his late lover's betrayal. He wouldn't repeat that mistake with his current lover, or with his men for that matter. He wouldn't share his true intentions with them until it was too late for them to ruin his plans.
The original meteorite had been lost, but it wasn't difficult to track the remaining samples. Most of them were in museums in Northern Africa, which would have been more difficult to acquire, given the unfamiliar criminal environment there. It was a stroke of luck that there had been a sample on loan to an American museum, though Lex would have preferred the Metropolis Museum of Natural History. He'd robbed it before and knew its security flaws.
With the Harvard Museum, he'd have to start from scratch on planning the robbery and the maps he found on-line lacked the necessary detail. He needed to know their security system, both in terms of equipment and people, which would likely require a couple days of reconnaissance. That provided a very small window of opportunity before the exhibit moved on to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.
For his ultimate plan to succeed, he'd also need to track Superman's movements, which meant recreating his ingenious alpha scanner. He was the only one who'd ever been able to successfully track Superman. Everyone else had tried using conventional mechanics to track him, which failed miserably, of course. That discipline couldn't even explain how the freak could fly, and thus, it should have come as no surprise that it couldn't track a phenomenon it couldn't explain. Lex had hypothesized that the Kryptonian's physiology worked by influencing the fabric of space, warping it to pull himself forward, though without any visible effect in normal space.
Lex reflected that his invention of a scanner capable of measuring those alpha distortions was a quantum leap forward in physics, detecting the imperceptible spacial distortions up to several hours after the alien flew by. Lex proudly recalled that he had built his prototype from a shoebox and stolen prison equipment during his incarceration. That invention should have earned him the Nobel Prize! Let's see any of those so-called physicists even come close to building something like that, Lex challenged. With his current resources, he should be able to improve on the design, tying it into the yacht's advanced sensors for increased range and transmitting the data to a small handheld unit. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to devote his full attention to the updated design until after they acquired the kryptonite, given the short window of opportunity at the Harvard Museum.
All his plans would be for naught if the alien tracked him here, so the first order of business would be establish false identities and rechristen the ship. Some of the required changes would necessitate hiring contractors with the unfortunate character flaw of being law-abiding citizens, but such people were easily disposed of once their tasks were complete. He'd just have to make sure that the men were diligent in purging all records of their presence. Lex pushed himself away from his desk and marched up the spiral staircase to join the men on bridge and issue his instructions while they waited to dock the ship.
Thursday, September 28, 2006 2:30AM EDT
After putting out an arson fire that threatened a family in Detroit, Superman flew high into the stratosphere. He trained his vision southwest to the Kent homestead in Smallville, and when the walls peeled away to reveal Kara in her bed, he closely scrutinized his sleeping daughter to visually measure her heart rate and breathing. Still sleeping peacefully, he concluded. Let's hope it stays that way.
He was relieved that the nightmares hadn't found her yet that night. He knew full well that she still had a long road to go psychologically and there would be more tears and nightmares in the days and months ahead. Had the shuttle malfunction not forced his return to duty, he would probably still be spending his nights at home watching over her. However, as his mother correctly pointed out, if Superman continued to spend his evenings at home, there would be a frenzy of media speculation over it, which was something he didn't care to explain.
Their solution had been for him to remotely monitor her with his vision every few minutes. The first couple of nights had been nerve-racking for him, but he was now confident that he would be able to spot her agitation in plenty of time to race home before she knocked the walls down. He was back to his normal routine, as far as the world knew.
Superman pulled his vision away from his slumbering child, closed his eyes, and extended his hearing across the region. He eyes flew open at the sounds of a M134 Gatling gun discharging and the concussion impacts from depleted uranium rounds. He opened his eyes, located the source of the disturbing noise on the roof of a Cleveland bank, and zoomed down across the landscape to intercede.
When the gunner turned his weapon on the hapless bank guards behind him, Superman accelerated to near light speed to intercept the shells before they reached their intended targets. The situation was resolved and the perpetrators subdued a half a minute later, and Superman was back in the stratosphere, briefly focusing his vision homeward before moving on to his next rescue.
* * *
Thursday, September 28, 2006 6:30AM CDT
Clark stole quietly through the predawn darkness to Kara's room and turned on the light as he entered. She was sleeping on her side, tightly clutching her plush toy penguin, with Shelby at the foot of the bed. He had noticed her agitation shortly before four o'clock and had arrived in time to calm her before the screaming started. It had taken her a while to fall back asleep and he hated waking her from her peaceful slumber. However, it was a school day and they had less than an hour before the bus arrived for her.
He gently rubbed her back as he called to her. "Kara... Time to get up and get ready for school." She grunted and rolled over onto her stomach. "'C'mon, honey, time to wake up." Shelby walked up to the head of the bed and started licking the exposed skin of her face, provoking her to roll over onto her back as she gently pushed the dog away. Finally, she opened her eyes and sat up, her hair a rat's nest from her tossing and turning during the night.
"The sun's not up yet," she complained groggily.
"If we wait for the sun, there won't be time to get ready for school before your bus gets here," he explained. "C'mon. Let's get a move on." Kara reluctantly got out of bed, followed her dad out of the room, and they both headed downstairs for breakfast.
Martha already had plates ready for both of them when they got to the kitchen. "Eat up, both of you," she ordered. "You need to get some meat on those bones." She turned to Clark and reminded him, "Don't forget that Ben and I are having dinner with the Swans tonight, so you'll need to be home on time."
"I remember," he informed her. "Tom's out of the hospital tomorrow?"
"Yes, but Sarah's still up in Wichita with him until then, which means she can't watch Kara tonight, either." Clark nodded his acknowledgement and dug into his breakfast.
Clark found himself amazed that someone with superspeed could move as slowly as Kara did getting ready for school in the morning. He had to keep reminding her how little time remained until her bus arrived. Somehow, against all odds, they were still on schedule, though Clark wasn't sure how much longer that would continue. He looked through the ceiling into her room and discovered she was re-reading one of her books, rather than packing it into her book bag. "There's not time to read that right now," he hollered up the stairs. "The bus will be here in two minutes!"
"I'm coming!" Kara hollered down. She shoved her book into the open backpack on her bed and quickly X-rayed it to make sure she had everything. Finally, she threw the pack over her shoulder and slowly walked downstairs.
"Are you sure you've got everything?" Clark asked seriously.
"Uh-huh."
Clark X-rayed her backpack to make sure everything was in order, before guiding her to the front door, where his mother was waiting. "Looks like we'll make it on time after all," he commented cheerfully. He gave her a quick hug before letting her out the front door. "Have a good day at school," he told her kindly. "I'll see you tonight." Martha took Kara's hand and walked her to the road just as the bus was pulling up. Clark watched as she climbed onto her bus and once it pulled away, he let himself out the back door and disappeared in a blur through the cornfields.
* * *
Thursday, September 28, 2006 8:45AM EDT
The Man of Steel dove through the stratosphere in a wide circular route to Metropolis and approached the city low over the ocean, as had become his habit. Though no longer concerned with revealing Superman's presence, it still seemed prudent to avoid leaving a pattern of telltale sonic booms that someone might associate with a work shift. As he neared the waterfront, he flew up above the city at high subsonic speed and disappeared down the elevator shaft at the Daily Planet building. Moments later, Clark Kent stepped out of an empty elevator and clumsily made his way down the aisle to his desk, worrying his coworkers with several near misses.
Clark heard Lois' heartbeat quickly approaching behind him, most likely for another confrontation over the EMP story, which Perry had run on the front page below the fold. It had turned out to be a good story, especially after fine-tuning it the previous evening and adding in some late-coming exclusive information. His contacts at Star Labs had revealed that the feds were extrapolating from their analysis to focus on an affluent borough along the northern bank of the Hob's River. Clark had filed his story late, changing the title to "EMP Probe Focuses on Donner Heights." He hadn't expected it to make the front page.
He sat down and was about to boot up when Lois sat on his desk and threw the front section open across his laptop. "What the hell do you call that?" she demanded.
Clark visibly focused his attention on the story above the fold, which was accompanied by a photo of Superman lifting the disabled plane from the Genesis shuttle above his head as he relocated it from Dolphin Stadium to Homestead Air Force Base. "Oh, um, it looks like Superman finally got that plane out of the stadium-"
"Below the fold!" she bellowed.
Clark's gaze drifted down to the other headline. "Oh. Perry put that on the front page?"
"Why, yes, he certainly did," Lois replied sarcastically. "The story that 'wasn't very good' and that he probably wouldn't even print. Right there. On the front page."
"I, um, refined it a bit after... after a source came through with some new information last night," Clark explained calmly. "I didn't think it would make the front page, though. Slow news day, maybe?"
"You told me that you didn't get any information from the power plant yesterday," Lois huffed angrily.
"I didn't," Clark insisted. "It came from the Star Labs forensic analysis on fried components collected from all over the city - the damage seemed most severe in the Donner Heights area of West Oaktown. But the sample size is too small to be statistically significant and their analysis too subjective. Of course, that didn't stop the feds from extrapolating from it and shifting their manpower there. They're desperate to show progress."
"Did your source give you any other new information that you've neglected to tell me about?" Lois demanded.
"Um, no, I don't think so. Not really."
"There better not be, because I'm tired of having this conversation with you!" Lois hollered. "And don't even think of hiding it from me if you find out anything else about the EMP!"
"Lois, I wasn't intentionally keeping anything from you," Clark insisted defensively. "Just when the new information came in... well, it was after you'd already gone home and I still had a job to do."
Lois rolled her eyes and irritably told him in a loud whisper, "Clark, I know you've been trying to prove yourself to Foswell, but I think you've made your point. It's my turn now, so back off the EMP story. Besides, I have some exclusive sources that you don't, so it's best that I take it from here. Weren't you going to cover the FEMA story?"
"Not much is new there and Gil's been covering it," Clark informed her. "I really wouldn't want to steal it from him. I think it's all he's got."
"Then find something else!" Lois hissed. Her point made, Lois turned and marched back to her desk, with her angry glare sending colleagues jumping out of her way.
Clark watched as she walked away. Same old Lois, he concluded happily. My, that was fun! I probably shouldn't push my luck, though, so I'd better let her take the EMP story now...
* * *
Thursday, September 28, 2006 3:15PM EDT
Richard gazed out at Lois through the window of Perry's office, only vaguely aware of the discussion going on in the editors' meeting. What is going on with Lois? he wondered. She had calmed down in a surprisingly short time after their argument the previous night, but she had remained aloof and sequestered herself in their first floor office immediately after putting Jason to bed. His brief attempt to interrupt her to clear the air had been met with an angry glare and he'd wisely backed off.
Any hope he had of talking through the matter in the morning disappeared once she saw the paper with Kent's story on the front page. She had been livid and rushed out the door in record time to confront him at the office. Why did that bother her so much? She wasn't even in town to cover the story until yesterday afternoon.
Kent was another mystery that was bothering him. Lois had never mentioned the man, even though they'd been partners for the three years prior to his hiatus. She also seemed more threatened by the competition from him than he had ever known her to be with any of their other colleagues, and he'd never known her arguments to be as heated as they had been with him the previous day. Of course, I can't remember the last time anyone else got the upper hand with her like that.
The other curiosity was how well the man was able to read her. One look and he knew that she had talked to her father. They were even finishing each other's sentences, something that he would never dare try. How is it that someone who's been gone for six years seems to know her better than I do when I've spent most of that time under the same roof with her?
Richard was brought out of his reverie by Perry's gruff shout. "Richard!" Perry barked. "Are we boring you?"
"What? Oh, sorry, Uncle Perry," Richard apologized. "Just a lot going on, I guess."
Perry glanced through the inside window where Richard had been staring and spotted Lois at her desk. He turned back to Richard and sternly demanded, "Keep the personal bullshit at home."
"Easier said than done when she's right there," Sam muttered.
"Yet another reason why nobody should ever fish from the office pond," Perry concluded. "Present company included. Actually, that goes double for all of you, because you're management."
"Everything's worked out just fine for Lois and me," Richard declared.
"That remains to be seen," Perry countered. "Now, what's the problem that has you zoning out at staff meetings?"
"It's personal."
"Not when it has you zoning out at staff meetings," Perry insisted. "Out with it."
"Lois seems... I don't know, different?" Richard answered pensively. "She accused me of holding her back professionally last night and she's gone after that EMP story with a passion I've never seen from her before."
"You might not have seen it, but the rest of us have," Perry informed him. "That passion is the fire she had when she started working here, the fire that earned her all those award nominations years ago... and the fire we all thought she'd lost after he left."
"She said that Superman was just a story," Richard protested.
"Did she now?" Perry asked enigmatically. "Well, then, I guess you have a mystery on your hands." Perry paused and glanced out at Lois in the bullpen as she rose from her desk and walked briskly towards the elevators. He considered the situation for a moment and said compassionately, "Whatever the reason, her fire is re-ignited and I'd wager that it won't get extinguished anytime soon. You're going to have to adapt to it.... Now, if you don't mind, get your head back on the job so we can continue with this meeting."
Perry turned his attention to Sam and asked brusquely, "Now, what the hell is Lois doing chasing the EMP story? I was expecting a Superman exclusive from her..."
* * *
Thursday, September 28, 2006 4:30PM EDT
Superman concluded that though things were still fairly messy in Metropolis, it was certainly an improvement over Monday afternoon's chaos. Police, fire and ambulance communications were restored and their fleets replenished with loaner vehicles from across the county while theirs were being repaired. All of the trains were running again and National Guard buses were supplementing the Met Transit fleet well enough to keep all lines running.
However, there were still many traffic lights out, with the inevitable tie-ups and short tempers, even with police and National Guard directing traffic. Also, while the public sector was recovering rather quickly, things were not going so well for the private sector, with a few notable exceptions, such as the Daily Planet. Most stores were still shuttered, with their cash registers and alarm systems still off-line from the EMP, and that had attracted a number of opportunistic criminals. The situation had kept the Man of Steel busy.
Despite the demands of his heroic alter ego, Clark Kent had still managed to file a story by the afternoon deadline. He submitted a public interest article on the effects of the business closures on the local community. Such articles had always been a staple of his portfolio and had the advantage of being solid stories that pleased the editors without generating much notice otherwise.
That would be a welcome change from his recent front page articles, which had brought more attention that he was comfortable with. After submitting that article, he had spent most of the afternoon apprehending petty criminals, and was only now rushing back to the Planet to prepare his second story of the day, this time on the economic impact of the EMP, which the Metropolis Chamber of Commerce claimed had a price tag in the billions.
His plans for the economic impact story were disrupted within moments of walking into the bullpen, when Clark found himself pulled into Perry White's office along with a nervous Jimmy Olsen and an aggravated Lois Lane, where they were confronted with their Editor-In-Chief's monologue. "Superman and the Daily Planet used to go together like bacon and eggs, Siegfried and Roy, death and taxes. Now I want that bond back." He turned to Lois and said, "Lois, I know you've been sneaking around working on that blackout story-"
"EMP," Lois corrected. "It wasn't just a blackout. It was everything. Cell phones, pagers, cars, planes, traffic lights. Everything."
"-but every other paper has its best-looking female reporters on every rooftop, waiting to interview Superman, and none of them have the history that you two do." Perry continued.
"What? No! Chief," Lois complained angrily. "I've done Superman." At Jimmy's snickering, she quickly corrected, "Covered Superman. You know what I mean."
"Exactly, which makes you the expert," Perry concluded.
"But there are dozens of other stories out there!"
"Name one," Perry challenged.
"What about that city hall sludge contract controversy that you pulled me off of last week? With potential InterGang ties?"
"Boring. Gil can handle it," Perry concluded.
"Why don't you guys track down Lex Luthor?" Jimmy suggested. "I mean, no one has seen him since he won his fifth appeal and he's got more bad history with Superman than anyone."
"Luthor's yesterday's news," Perry declared.
"No, I like that idea, Perry," Lois decided. "Lex Luthor is a career criminal that nearly killed him, for Pete's sake. Just because he doesn't fly-"
Clark leaned over to Jimmy and whispered conspiratorially, "How'd Luthor get out of prison?"
"The court of appeals called Superman as a witness and he was a no-show," Jimmy whispered back. "How much do you think that pisses off Superman now?"
"A lot," Clark told him, matter-of-factly.
"Kent? Blackout," Perry declared.
"Chief!" Lois protested.
"It was his story to begin with and he's already had a couple days head start on you," Perry pointed out. "You have been reading our own paper, haven't you?"
"He doesn't have the ton of material I got from my sources," Lois insisted desperately.
"Then give it to him... Lois, you'll do Superman. And Olsen, if you don't get me some iconic pictures of him like I asked for, I swear you'll be back down to copy boy!"
"I just gave you pictures of him at the Meteor Dome on Tuesday!" Jimmy protested. "That was 'under stadium lights'."
"That was a photo-op for FEMA. Superman was just shaking the guy's hand. Now this..." Perry threw down a copy of that morning's Daily Planet, with the front page photo of Superman lifting the Boeing 777 out of Dolphin Stadium. He poked his finger down on the picture and declared, "...that's iconic, but we had to buy the shot from AP. Now get out of here, all three of you, and don't come back without something special!"
* * *
Jason was in a grumpy mood. He'd gotten in trouble at school and his Daddy had to come and talk to the teacher. Now he had to come back to the office, instead of playing with his friends in AfterCare. Once the elevators opened to the editorial floor, he'd run out, looking for his mother. He spotted her leaving Uncle Perry's office with Jimmy and that nice man he'd met the day before, Mister Kent. He ran up to them while they continued talking.
"Gee, Lois, I'm so sorry about that," Clark said. "I really thought I was done with the EMP story."
"I'll bet," Lois muttered skeptically.
"I'd really hate it if this little thing damaged our relationship-"
"Relationship?" she asked incredulously. She opened her mouth to say more, but hesitated when she detected the motion from the corner of her eye, and turned towards Jason just as he ran up to her.
"Mommy!"
Lois knelt down, and pulled him into her arms. "What is my little troublemaker doing here?" she asked teasingly.
"I had a little meeting with his teacher after school," Richard explained. "He's getting restless and disrupting class."
"He was probably still a little stir crazy from spending so much time cooped up in the newspaper offices this week," Lois suggested impatiently.
"Missus Myers thinks he's not challenged enough," Richard informed her. "The other kids are just now learning the alphabet, and he's already reading at a second grade level. She had to give him some books borrowed from the other class just to keep him occupied. She thinks we should test him for Talented and Gifted and transfer him to a TAG magnet school."
"Absolutely not," Lois said angrily. "The nearest TAG school is too far away from our neighborhood."
"I already told her we'd try the TAG school."
"Then you can call her back and tell her that we're not," Lois hissed. "It's on the other side of town."
"It's not that bad of a trip from the Planet."
"Contrary to what you seem to believe, the bullpen is not an afterschool playground and that TAG school is still too far from our house. If they can't handle him without shipping him to the other side of town, then maybe we should think about the Montessori school instead. It's a better school and a lot closer to home... How could you make a decision like that without discussing it with me first?"
"All right, I'm sorry. I'll call her back," Richard promised with his hands up in a surrender gesture. After a beat, he cautiously probed, "Is everything all right, Lois? Did something happen that I should know about?"
"Are you suggesting that you didn't know your uncle was taking my EMP story away and shoving Superman back into my life?" Lois asked skeptically.
"I had nothing to do with that," Richard insisted quickly. "Perry's got a one-track mind where Superman's involved - you've heard his 'three things sell newspapers' spiel. Look, I'm sure you can find a way to do the story without bringing Superman back into your life."
At the moment, the loud volume from one of the replacement televisions overhead interrupted them, as the hostess of the infotainment program announced, "There's really no way around it, folks! Superman is back in our lives!" Her face was replaced with a still image of Superman, which was one of the rare shots showing him with a smirk on his face, rather than the usual stern expression. Jason smiled up at the picture. Like most boys his age, he'd been absolutely fascinated by the Superman stories over the past few days, especially since he learned that Superman had saved his mother and that they were friends.
Jason heard Clark chuckle lightly and craned his head back, looking up at Clark as he looked back down at him with the same Superman smirk on his face as the picture on the television. He looked between the television and Clark a couple of times, before his eyes grew wide and he started hyperventilating from the sudden revelation. Mister Kent is Superman! Jason thought. And he works with Mommy! How cool! As Jason was about to announce his wonderful discovery about his mother's new co-worker, he started wheezing.
Lois heard Jason's labored breathing and quickly checked his inhaler, replacing it with a fresh one from her purse and making him breathe in from it. Once satisfied he was okay, she turned to Richard and sighed irritably. "Well, you might as well take him home. Looks like I'm going to be here late to brief Clark on everything I dug up on the EMP and to start putting together the Superman story."
"Actually... my sitter, um, has plans," Clark informed them. "She really made a point of reminding me that I had to be on-time tonight."
"Fine. Give me a few minutes to get my things together, we'll pick her up from your sitter's, and work on the story from your place," Lois decided.
"Um, my... my place?" Clark stammered, visibly nervous. "I, um... I'm not so sure..."
"Clark, why don't you bring her back here," Richard suggested. "We'll all stay late, bring dinner in, I'll help with the Superman story, and you two can work on the EMP. How's that sound?"
"Swell!" Clark answered cheerfully, obviously relieved at the suggestion, while Lois and Richard both gave him odd looks at his choice of words.
* * *
Thursday, September 28, 2006 5:10PM EDT
Superman slowed to a stop high above the Atlantic two hundred miles east of Metropolis and reached out to bring Kara to a stop with him. He turned to face her and told her patiently, "Remember what we talked about earlier. We can't let anyone know that you're related to Superman or that we still live in Smallville. It would raise too many questions."
Kara rolled her eyes and told him, "I remember, but it's stupid. Keeping secrets makes things so complicated."
"It would be worse if we didn't keep secrets," he insisted sternly. "Kara, we've already discussed this and I don't want to repeat that argument. Promise you'll follow the rules?"
"Okay, I promise," she replied irritably. "Can we go now?"
Superman nodded, pulled Kara into his arms, and zoomed west to Metropolis, briefly coming to a stop on the roof of the Daily Planet before the pair stepped through the roof access door and Clark blurred into his civilian clothes. A moment later, they stepped out of the stairwell onto the editorial floor and walked into the bullpen where they were quickly intercepted by a curious Jimmy Olsen.
While Kara and Jimmy exchanged greetings, Clark scanned the bullpen for Lois. He briefly locked eyes with her through the glass wall of Richard's office and offered her his usual goofy smile and wave. He listened in as Lois turned to Richard and announced, "Clark's back."
"He's certainly taller than I expected," Richard muttered.
"Who? Clark?"
"Superman," Richard corrected, spinning his monitor around to show the search results on his screen.
"Six-four," Lois confirmed.
"I love that he can see through anything. I'd have fun with that."
"Anything but lead," Lois corrected.
Richard took a closer look at the picture on his screen, one of the first taken after his arrival. "I bet he's-"
"-two hundred and twenty-five pounds, faster than a speeding bullet, invulnerable to anything but kryptonite, and he never lies."
"Kryptonite?"
"Radioactive fragments from his home world, Krypton. It's deadly. To him. Why?"
"I don't know. Sounds like the perfect guy," Richard commented. He looked through the window and spotted Clark with Jimmy and Kara. Jason had just walked up to them, lifting the garbage can off his head enough to see who he was talking to. Richard scrutinized Clark more closely and asked, "How tall would you say Clark is?"
"I don't know. Six-three, Six-four."
"About what? Two, two-fifteen, maybe?"
"Sure, why?" She followed Richard's gaze and found Clark grinning goofily and waving back to them. She rolled her eyes when she realized what Richard had been suggesting. "Jesus, you've got to be kidding!"
"What?"
"Clark's a geeky farm-boy, single dad from Smallville, Kansas," Lois explained crossly. "The only thing 'super' about him is his stress level. Between Foswell questioning his abilities, his mom getting married again to the farmer down the road, and his daughter's issues, he's pretty overwhelmed. Not exactly what you'd find on a superhero's résumé."
Richard chuckled lightly and turned his attention back to Lois. "Lois, I wasn't seriously suggesting that Clark was-"
"Sure you weren't," Lois replied sarcastically.
Relieved that Lois had unknowingly thrown Richard off his scent, Clark turned his attention back to the children in front of him. Jason appeared delighted to discover a playmate close to his size and had run up to Kara as soon as he had spotted her and invited her to join in his game, pretending to be Godzilla. He suggested that Kara could be Gamera.
"What's Godzilla?" Kara asked. "And what's Gamera?"
"You've never heard of Godzilla?" Jason asked incredulously. "He's the coolest! He's a hundred-foot-tall Japanese monster! He destroys Tokyo in all the movies."
"Why do you want to pretend to be a monster?" Kara asked innocently. "Grandma says we're supposed to help people."
"You mean like Superman?" Jason asked, as he peeked up at Clark.
"I guess," Kara replied, shrugging her shoulders. "But Grandma says everyone should try to do their part to help others, and nobody's more important that anybody else-"
"But Godzilla is more fun!" Jason insisted.
"Hey there, you little monster!" Richard teased as he and Lois approached the group. "How about we go get some dinner?"
"Yeah, burritos!" Jason cheered. He looked over at his new playmate and asked, "Do you like burritos?"
"I don't know," Kara replied. "I've never tasted one."
"We can pick up some other things, too, in case she doesn't like them," Lois suggested. She then turned to Clark and asked, "Does she have any food allergies we need to watch for?"
"No, she can eat pretty much anything."
"Can Kara come with us?" Jason asked.
"Can I please, Dad?" Kara echoed.
"Daddy and Jimmy are just going to pick up dinner and bring it back," Lois explained. "You sure you wouldn't rather stay here?" She squatted down in front of the two children as they confirmed their wishes and she closely observed them, letting her gaze drift between the two.
Clark smiled down at the tableau, but frowned at Lois' sudden gasp and the spike in her pulse. Lois quickly caught herself, masking her expression as she turned to Richard and declared, "You okay with the extra munchkin?"
Richard nodded. "We're good to go, as long as Clark's fine with it. Is everything all right?"
"Fine," Lois answered sharply.
"Well, I guess Kara can go with you," Clark decided. Turning to Kara, he said, "Stay close to Richard and Jimmy and do what they tell you. Okay?"
"Okay."
Clark turned his attention back to Lois, anxious over what had excited her. Her heartbeat was still racing. "Lois?" he called. "Are you sure everything's okay?"
"Shh." Lois held out her index finger, signaling him to wait until the elevator doors closed behind Richard, Jimmy, and the children. Finally, she turned to him, grabbed his tie, and pulled him into an empty conference room behind her. She then released his tie, slammed the door shut, and turned to him, arms crossed. "You remember the Niagara Falls assignment, don't you Clark?" she asked sternly.
"Um, sure, like it just happened," he answered uncertainly. "What's this about?"
"Do you think it's about time you told me what really happened there?" Lois pressed.
"Um, you were there with me," Clark reminded her. "You pretty much know everything that happened there."
"I'm not so sure about that," Lois insisted mysteriously. "Seems pretty obvious to me now that something did happen there that I didn't know about."
"Lois, I have no idea where you're going with this," Clark confessed. "Can you give me a clue, please?"
"Oh, it just occurred to me that you probably know about something that had to have happened there," Lois began sarcastically. "Something that, oh, I don't know, might explain why I gave birth to Jason nine months later!"
Thursday, September 28, 2006 5:20PM EDT
The blood drained from Clark's face and his eyes grew impossibly large as he weakly answered, "I thought... I thought Jason was Richard's."
"I was almost convinced of that myself, even though the math never quite worked there," Lois declared. "But the striking resemblance between Jason and Kara is kind of hard to overlook."
My God, they do look alike! Clark realized. How did I miss that? Aloud, he nervously asked, "You, um... you think they look alike?" He awkwardly looked away and covertly focused his vision through the floors and walls to the children in the descending elevator where he found Kara staring back at him, wide-eyed. Oh, boy, I really didn't want to have to explain things like this to her, he thought. He shook the concern from his mind and shifted his focus to Jason for a closer look at the boy's cellular structure.
"Clark, if they were the same age and gender, those two would pass for twins!" Lois angrily replied in a loud whisper. "Sure looks like those two are brother and sister, which would mean that Jason is your son. Now, how the hell could that even be possible? Did you decide to get yourself laid after I fell asleep?"
Clark's eyes, already impossibly wide, grew even wider as his head snapped back to Lois. She was glaring at him, angrier than he'd ever seen her, and he couldn't really blame her - the circumstantial evidence suggested date rape. He'd been shocked mute by both the accusation and her stated conclusion that Jason was his son! It only took Clark a moment to find his voice. "H-How can you even suggest..." he stammered. "I would never - it wasn't like that at all."
"Then what was it like, Clark, because I certainly don't remember going to bed with you."
"I... I'm still trying to figure this out," he admitted. "It shouldn't be possible." How can this be? Clark wondered. Jor-El said that the genomes weren't compatible. Clark was forced to acknowledge that his father had been wrong. Not only did Jason bear a striking resemblance to Kara, a super-close look at him a moment earlier revealed uniquely Kryptonian attributes in his cellular structure. Somehow, Jason had been conceived while he and Lois were together during the alternate timeline and had miraculously survived the space-time fold.
"What part of this isn't possible, Clark?" Lois demanded. "That you got into my panties? That you knocked me up? Or that I figured out who it was that knocked me up?"
Clark suddenly became aware of the chatter from the bullpen. Though the office had thinned out considerably, the bullpen was still lightly staffed for the swing shift. They'd noticed Lois dragging him into the conference room by the tie, which was something she something reserved for people who had seriously pissed her off. Fortunately, the glass barrier between them still offered their conversation some privacy, but Clark became suddenly uncomfortable at the attention. "We're... We're attracting a bit of a crowd," he pointed out. "How about a change of venue? The roof, maybe?"
"You're not getting out of here until I get an explanation," Lois insisted.
Clark sighed tiredly, lowered his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose. I have to tell her, he concluded. She's earned that right... But, not here. Not like this. He raised his head with a determined expression on his face and firmly told her, "Lois, I think I know what happened and I promise, it's not what you think-"
"Frankly, your promises don't mean a lot right now, and you really don't want to know what I think."
"In order to explain what happened with us, I have to tell you about something that affected the entire globe," Clark informed her, reaching around her for the doorknob. "It's a horrible truth that the rest of humanity has been blissfully ignorant of, but you'll need to know the full truth of it - you deserve nothing less. But we're not having that conversation here. Give me ten minutes to check my facts, then I'll meet you on the roof and explain everything."
"Get away from that door!" she commanded. "You're not running from this." She tried to push him back, and was surprised when he didn't budge. It was like pushing against a wall.
"I'll never run from you, Lois," he told her sincerely. "But I do have to go right now." He easily opened the door against her resistance, again surprising her. "Ten minutes, and you'll have my undivided attention and the explanation you're looking for." Clark then turned from her and walked briskly through the door, heading towards the elevator lobby.
Lois was only a few steps behind him. "Stop right there, Smallville," she called after him. "We're not even close to being done here."
"Ten minutes," Clark repeated over his shoulder as he quickened his pace and ducked through the door to the stairs.
When Lois opened the door to the stairs five seconds later, she was astonished to discover the space deserted. "Get back here, damn you!" she hollered, her voice shrilly echoing through the empty and silent stairwell. She waited a moment and then sighed irritably before shouting up the stairs, "Fine. You've got ten minutes! And you had damn well better not be late!"
She then finally abandoned her quarry, marched to her desk, retrieved her purse from the bottom drawer, and returned to the elevator lobby. She angrily pressed the up button while a handful of her colleagues in the bullpen looked on in amusement.
* * *
Lois set her purse on the half-wall at the edge of the roof, fished out her cigarettes and lighter and attempted to light a cigarette. The lighter's flame went out just as she was about to touch it to the end of her cigarette. Lois grumbled and repeated the attempt, and again the flame extinguished itself almost immediately. To her left, a deep baritone greeted her, "You know, you really shouldn't be smoking, Miss Lane."
Lois yelped in surprise at the voice. Oh, my God, he's here, she thought. Does his timing ever suck...
"I'm sorry," he told her sincerely as he floated down to the roof and stepped forward. "I didn't mean to-"
"I'm fine," Lois protested. "Really. I just wasn't expecting... you." She practically spat the last word and Superman winced.
"I'm-" Superman began.
"So, where-" Lois said at the same time. After a short awkward silence, she decided, "You first. I can wait." Okay, Lane, take a minute and figure out what you're going to say, she instructed herself. Try to be articulate this time.
"I'm sorry," he began. "For leaving like that. And with all the press on the plane, it really wasn't a good time to talk."
Press? Lois wondered, her brow momentarily wrinkling in confusion. "Oh, right. The plane. We'll there's no press around now. Except me."
"Well, um, I know that people are asking a lot of questions, um, now that I'm back, and I think it's only fair that I answer those people."
Those people? Lois thought. "So you're here for an interview?" Lois turned and searched her purse for her tape recorder. "Where did I put that thing?" she mumbled.
"Your right pocket, Lois," Superman informed her and she fished it out of her pocket. "But you won't need it. This visit is strictly off the record."
"Off the record?" Lois asked incredulously. "Do you have any idea the kind of pressure my editor is putting on me to get this interview? I can't do the real stories until I get this damn thing done."
Superman frowned and said, "The explanation that I owe you and the horrible truth I must share with you is not for public consumption. It's for your ears only."
Horrible Truth? Lois thought. Those are the same words that Clark used. She turned off the recorder and threw it in her purse. "Were you eavesdropping on us earlier?" she demanded to know.
"You know I hear everything, but we'll come back to that later," he evaded.
"Fine," she snapped. "You say you owe me an explanation, so explain, starting with where the hell you were these past six years."
"I went back to Krypton."
Lois' brow again wrinkled in confusion. "But you told me it was destroyed," she recalled quietly.
"It was," he confirmed sadly. "And quite thoroughly so. Big chunks of the planet were blown away and almost nothing is recognizable from the days when I lived there. The little that is still standing was transformed into kryptonite by the nova - something I hadn't noticed until it was almost too late. But I had to go back."
"Why?"
"Six years ago, a distress call from my father's brother reached Earth," Superman explained. "He'd been trying to escape with his family and while they launched from Krypton in time to avoid getting incinerated in the nova, they got caught in the shockwave. Their ship was disabled and power nearly depleted... Lois, this was a call for help from my family. I had to respond to that call."
"So you've brought them back with you?" Lois asked in amazement. "How come nobody's seen them yet?"
Superman offered her a sad look before lowering his gaze to the tile beneath his feet. "They didn't all survive," he said quietly. "There was only enough power to sustain one of them, frozen in stasis. My aunt and uncle chose life for their daughter - I brought her back with me and I'm taking care of her now."
He lifted his head with a serious expression on his face and stressed, "Lois, nobody can know about this... Maybe that will change someday, when she's grown up and out of school - if she chooses to join me in this mission. But until that day, I want her to enjoy what remains of her childhood and to at least have the option of a normal life."
Jesus, the poor kid, Lois thought. "How old is she?"
"I'd rather not go into details," Superman told her firmly. "Not yet."
"You should have told me about this before you left," Lois scolded him.
"Lois, I... I meant to. But when I went looking for you, you were on a plane heading to L.A.," he explained. "I couldn't pull you off the plane without validating everything that the tabloids were suggesting."
"Who cares about the tabloids?" she shouted.
"Lois, not everyone realizes that they're fiction and that includes some of my most vicious enemies," he reminded her. "There was no way that I was going to unnecessarily endanger your life, especially when I wasn't going to be around in case something happened."
"Then you could have found me that night in L.A.," she argued.
"There wasn't time," he insisted. "As it was, I barely got to my uncle's ship before power ran out. I'm sorry."
"What about during those two weeks before you left when you were flying around like the end of the world was coming?" Lois argued. "You couldn't take a few minutes to drop down to the roof at the Planet, where I was waiting for you, and explain what was going on?"
"Lois, I left thirty hours after my uncle's distress call reached Earth," Superman informed her.
"Then what was up with your hyperactivity?" Lois pressed. "It sure seemed to me that like you were putting in the extra effort because you knew you wouldn't be here. And you were avoiding me like the plague."
"I'm sorry about that, Lois," he told her sincerely. "It's just... Well, you know me well enough that if I'd dropped by, you'd have known something was wrong, and I didn't want to burden you with that."
"Does this have something to do with that 'horrible truth' that you were mentioning?"
Superman nodded. "On August twenty-sixth, two thousand, I folded space-time back on itself eight days to mitigate the effects of a global nuclear holocaust."
"Whoa, slow down a minute," Lois asked in disbelief. "Did you say, 'nuclear holocaust'?"
Superman sadly informed her, "Three vicious Kryptonian criminals escaped their prison and discovered Earth."
"Kryptonian?"
"Yes," he confirmed. "They were terrorists, for lack of a better word, led by an egomaniacal sociopath named General Zod, who had once been in charge of Krypton's security. They were the only three criminals that the Kryptonian justice system had been unable to rehabilitate and had been banished to a space-borne prison called the 'Phantom Zone'. Ironically, their punishment gave them a chance for survival that wasn't available to Krypton's law-abiding citizens...
"I hadn't realized it at the time, but apparently the Zone got caught in my ship's wake and dragged to Earth with me when I first came here, and they had been orbiting out near the Kuiper belt. I had no idea they were there..."
"Jesus..."
"Anyway, in the original timeline, when that runaway nuke got loose the morning of August eighteenth, I intercepted it and threw it into space towards the outer planets. Its trajectory took it close enough to the Phantom Zone that the shockwave from the detonation breeched the seal and they escaped. When they arrived on Earth a short time later, I was distracted with some personal matters and didn't realize what was happening. By the time I learned that they were here, they'd already taken over the Earth and nuked twenty-eight major cities around the world... I did manage to defeat them - just barely - but the damage was done. There was nowhere on Earth to escape the fallout..."
"But you were able to undo it..."
Superman shrugged and continued, "Afterwards, when I pieced together what had happened, I realized that my carelessness had freed them. I had to share responsibility for the hundred million people who perished in those nukes and the hundreds of millions more who'd die from the radiation. However, it occurred to me that I could mitigate the damage by folding space-time back on itself eight days - prior to Zod's escape from the phantom zone. The second time around I made sure that they stayed sealed in their cage. I got to that runaway nuke sooner and the nuke detonated within the sun's corona, safely isolated from the Phantom Zone."
"Where is this 'Phantom Zone' now?" Lois asked anxiously. Oh, Dear God. The damage they could do if they got free again...
"They're in a distant orbit around a red giant twenty thousand light years from Earth," he said simply. "I left a probe to monitor it, just in case, but they won't be going anywhere anytime soon."
"That's a relief," Lois commented. "Now, about that other thing you mentioned... You rolled back time? You never told me that you could do that."
"That not quite how it works, but your description is close enough," he replied. "It's not an easy thing to do, and not something to be taken lightly."
"Okay, fine," Lois replied sharply. "You rolled back time and stopped Armageddon from happening... So what exactly does this 'horrible truth' have to do with the leper treatment I got from you before you left?" Clark's not the only one who has some explaining to do, she thought.
"Lois, I hadn't intended that as a rebuke," he told her sincerely. "I had a lot going through my mind, mostly a combination of guilt over the acute harm that my carelessness and dereliction of duty had caused, and some personal disappointments."
"What harm?" Lois asked incredulously. "You rolled back time! You prevented it from happening!"
"Those eight days still happened, Lois - you can't rewind time like a video," Superman explained. "There's no separate time stream - its space-time. H. G. Wells got it wrong. It's impossible to completely undo events by folding space-time."
Lois shook her head. "Okay, now you're making my head hurt," she complained. "You know I'm not a science geek."
"Okay, try to think of like this," Superman offered. "Imagine that you can fit the entire universe on a single sheet of paper - all the planets, all the stars, all the galaxies. Okay?"
"Okay."
"But that sheet of paper is just a snapshot of the universe at that particular moment. For every second that passes, there's another sheet of paper that gets glued on top of the previous page. As time passes, you end up with a stack of paper, rather than a single sheet. That's space-time. Understand?"
"Sure, but what's it have to do with rolling back time?"
"Well, you can't just pull the pages off of the top of the stack and start over to retroactively prevent a horrible event," he explained. "The pages are glued together. But..." Superman poked his index finger down on top of his open palm and continued, "...if you exert enough force at a particular point, you can compress the top pages down into the lower layers. You'll end up with something the thickness of a single page, but with the mass of all the upper pages merged into it, at that one point.
"That's kind of what happens when folding space-time - there's a localized effect contained within the sun's gravity well and the future folds into the past. In this case, I folded space-time back on itself eight days. Everyone here repeated the eighteenth through the twenty-sixth of August, two thousand, though no human being remembers the first time around. Those memories are out-of-phase and lost forever."
"So how's that different that rolling back time, if it's like those eight days never happened."
"The future merges with the past and that leaves residual traces of the original timeline - the top pages on our stack of paper. When I folded space-time after the nuclear holocaust, the nuked cities were whole again, but the poisonous radiation wasn't completely dissipated. There's still much higher background radiation in those cities even now, which some of your sources have noticed. That's resulted in an elevated cancer rate in those cities, according to a CDC report I read recently. Also, the construction in those cities is much weaker and has a greater potential for structural failure than before the nukes. That probably accounts for multiple bridge and building collapses over the past six years. Lois, people have died from these things."
"Okay, I get the point," she told him.
Superman nodded and after a moment's pause, he told her apologetically, "There's another affect of the fold that you need to know about - how certain people were directly affected by it. People whose actions and experiences were starkly different in those lost eight days than they were the second time around."
"Why would that be a big deal?" Lois asked. "Seems like it would be a good thing, if the first time around was as bad as you say."
"For some people, it was a good thing," Superman conceded. "They'd been killed or seriously hurt the first time around, and after the fold, they were alive again with little evidence of their original ordeal. However, there could be some symptoms of the original injuries, which I suspect were sometimes fatal."
"So it's basically a what-if scenario?" Lois asked skeptically. "What if so-and-so's unexplained death was from the nukes that nobody remembers."
"It's statistically unlikely that none of the deaths in the last six years could be traced back to injuries from those original eight days," Superman insisted. "However, that wasn't why I brought it up. There's a different scenario I want to discuss - one that affects you directly."
Lois' eyes went wide. "How bad is it?" she asked anxiously.
"That depends on your perspective," Superman answered. "I'll get right to the point. I'm absolutely certain that Jason was conceived during the original timeline - nothing happened in Niagara Falls the second time around. The circumstances were different."
"You're saying that Clark and I... That we...," she began nervously. Suddenly, her nervousness morphed into irritation and her eyes narrowed into a glare. "Wait a minute," she said irritably. "Were you spying on us?"
"What? No!" he protested. "It's not like that. It's just... well, the circumstances were different the first time through those eight days and you saw your partner in a different light. Your situation was somewhat different than that of the other affected women-"
"What do you mean, 'other affected women'?" Lois demanded.
"There was a report of an unusually high spike in the birth rate in the spring of two thousand one, with an unusually high percentage of single women giving birth," Superman explained. "At first, I didn't think anything of it, but after taking a closer look at the data earlier tonight, I couldn't help but notice that the birthrates were flat in the nuked cities that were included in the study. That suggests that something happened in those original eight days, in the cities that weren't nuked."
"What does this time fold have to do with that?"
"Think about it for a minute, Lois," Superman suggested. "Three vicious aliens with the same powers as I have take over the world and promptly 'punish' twenty-eight cities by nuking them. There's nowhere to escape the fallout and no sign of Superman. It really looked like the end of civilization as we knew it."
"So you're saying the survivors decided to get laid while they still had the chance?"
"I... I wouldn't have put it that way," Superman protested as a slight blush rose up his cheeks. "But it shouldn't come as a surprise that some people sought comfort in each others' arms, perhaps with partners that they wouldn't otherwise consider or without the precautions that they might otherwise have exercised. Those pairings wouldn't necessarily have been repeated in the revised timeline."
"Okay, I'll buy that," Lois agreed. "But you said my situation was different," Lois pressed. "How so?"
"You weren't aware of Zod's invasion when... you know..."
"You were spying on us," Lois accused irritably. "So you're some kind of super-stalker now?" Is that why you ignored me after rescuing that kid in Niagara Falls? Couldn't face me after what you saw me doing with Clark?
"Lois, that's not how it was," Superman stated sternly. "I'll explain it all to you in a little while... I think that there are some things about Clark Kent that may surprise you."
"What about him?" Lois asked. "And how is it that he seemed to know about this 'horrible truth'?"
The Man of Steel looked away, walked to the edge of the roof and stared out at the cityscape as he let out a frustrated sigh. After a moment, he quietly said, "I get the feeling that I'm not doing a very good job explaining things. Every question I answer seems to spawn two more and we've seriously digressed from the original topic..."
"Occupational hazard."
"You asked why I seemed to be avoiding you before I left," he reminded her. "Part of the answer was guilt over what happened in that alternate timeline, the affects of which are still being felt. But there was also some personal baggage that I was preoccupied with. You remember the disappointment I mentioned?
"The truth is that while Zod and his cohorts were invading Earth, I was daring to hope that I could have a normal life. In fact, I was trying to live that normal life, rather than attending to my duty, which was why I hadn't noticed their invasion until it was almost too late. Afterwards, I was forced to face the fact that a normal life might not be part of my future, and that was not an easy thing to accept... I could hide my sorrow over that from the rest of the world, but I knew that if you saw me, I wouldn't be able to hide it from you. I didn't want to burden you with my problems."
"You still should have explained things to me," Lois insisted.
"I know," he conceded. "And I'm sorry." The two settled into an uncomfortable silence, both seeming to study the patterns in the roof tile at their feet. It had only lasted a couple minutes when Superman declared, "It's good to be back."
"Yeah, well everyone seems to be happy about it."
"Not everyone," he said quietly. They both raised their heads and he looked her intently in the eyes. "I read the article, Lois. 'Why the World Doesn't Need Superman'."
Way to ruin the moment, you jerk, Lois thought. Aloud, she sternly told him, "So did a lot of people. Next week, they'll give me a Pulitzer for it."
"Why did you write it?"
"How can you ask that after leaving me like that?" she hissed. "Was it that hard to say 'goodbye'?"
"I'm sorry if I hurt you."
"No. The time to say sorry was six years ago," Lois snapped. She turned her back to him and stared into space, fighting the tears that were glistening in her eyes. She blinked away the tears and spoke slowly as she kept her back to him, "I moved on. I had to. So did the rest of us. That's why I wrote it. The world doesn't need a savior."
"I never wanted to be a savior. I just wanted to help."
"Well, I guess you sure screwed that up, didn't you."
The two stood silently for a few minutes in an awkward silence. Finally, Superman looked tenderly at her and asked, "Lois, will you come with me?"
"What? Why?"
"There's something I want to show you... Please."
Lois turned back to him and looked at the hopeful expression on his face. This is a really bad idea, she thought. I should refuse. She hesitated a moment, but then stepped towards him. "I can't be long," she said. "Clark should be here any minute." She toed off her shoes and stepped up on his feet.
Superman smiled sweetly at her and assured her, "That won't be a problem."
* * *
It had been a long time since Lois had seen the city from this vantage point. Though she'd flown often enough in Richard's seaplane, it wasn't the same with the droning engine noise and the speed required to maintain lift. Nothing compared to standing on Superman's feet, in the protective circle of his arm and basking in his unusual warmth as they looked down on the city from a stationary point high above. It felt like they were standing on top of the world. I don't think that I'll ever get tired of this, she thought. Though, he doesn't need to know that. She was enjoying the flight despite her best efforts to cling to her anger.
As they slowed to a stop, Lois turned her head back to face him and asked, "What was that you were saying earlier about Clark, about needing to explain a few things?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you all about it later," he promised. He paused a moment and then asked her, "Lois, what do you hear?"
"Nothing. It's quiet."
Superman smiled. "Do you know what I hear? I hear everything." His smile faded as he continued, "You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one and I can't ignore their call." He paused a moment and told her tenderly, "I'm sorry I left you like that, Lois. Please believe that I never meant to hurt you."
Before Lois had a chance to respond, a small voice to her left unhappily informed them, "I'm sorry, too. It was my fault."
Lois' head spun to her left at the child's voice and her eyes flew wide open in shock when she recognized the small blonde girl floating ten feet away. Lois heard herself quietly voice the girl's name: "Kara."
Thursday, September 28, 2006 5:40PM EDT
Lois stared in amazement at the little girl floating in front of her as the clues to the enigma known as Clark Kent assembled themselves in her mind, completing a puzzle that she hadn't realized was there. Kara Kent, Lois thought. Superman's orphaned cousin... the one he's taking care of... the one Clark introduced as his daughter... Oh. My. God. Clark is Superman. That lying son of a... If he thought he had some explaining to do before...
Lois' head cleared enough for her to finally notice Kara's agonized expression and the sheen of unshed tears in her eyes. Uh-oh. Someone's not happy... She chanced a glance over at Superman, who had an irritated expression on his face, with his head cocked to the side and his eyes squeezed shut. Oh, and Daddy's not happy either. Well, deal with it, you lunkhead. Aloud, she icily said, "Clark."
"Hold on," he replied firmly.
Hold on, like hell! Lois thought. However, she silently fumed for a moment. By the time she finally opened her mouth to speak, Superman had opened his eyes and focused on Kara, sternly telling her, "Well, it doesn't sound like anyone saw you fly up here, thank goodness." He shifted Lois to his right side and floated over to his daughter, descending slightly so that he was at eye level with her. "Kara-"
"It's my fault you left them," she declared sadly.
Okay, Lois thought, I'll let you take care of your Daddy duty before ripping you a new one.
"Sweetheart, you're not responsible for every complication in my life," Superman explained patiently. "And Lois isn't mad at me because of anything to do with you. She's mad at me because I didn't explain the situation before I left - like I should have done. I have nobody but myself to blame for that."
"You've got that right," Lois hissed under her breath.
"But if you hadn't had to come back to Krypton to get me-" Kara protested unhappily and her lower lip began to tremble.
So I was right - she is his orphaned cousin, Lois thought as her heart broke for the little girl. The poor kid, losing everyone like that... No wonder she looks like she's about to cry.
"That was my choice, Kara, and one that I'll never regret," Superman told her insistently. "And I'm pretty sure that if I had explained the situation to Lois, she would have supported that decision."
"I would have insisted on it," Lois confirmed emphatically. I'm mad at him, not you.
"But you had to leave your son," Kara pointed out. "You shouldn't have come back for me." Then the tears came and her whole body began to shake from the sobs.
Lois tightened her grip around Superman as he closed the remaining distance to Kara, wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her close. Once Kara was securely in his arms, Lois noticed the city blur beneath them, giving her a feeling of vertigo and prompting her to tightly close her eyes. When she felt Superman release his grip on her a moment later, she opened her eyes and was surprised to find herself back on the roof of the Daily Planet building. She stepped back shakily from Superman and Kara and leaned against the perimeter wall. A little warning would have been nice, Lois complained to herself.
"Kara, listen to me. As much as I would have liked to have been here with Lois and Jason, I could never have left you stranded out there," Superman said sincerely. "Do you remember what we talked about the other night? It doesn't matter that you weren't born my daughter, you are my daughter now. Honey, I love you, and you're just as important to me as Lois and Jason are. How could I ever choose one of you over the other?" Kara threw her arms around his neck and buried her head in his chest. He gently swayed back and forth to sooth her as she continued to cry.
Not bad for a newbie dad, Lois thought. Can't assume the he knows what he's doing, though. This is Clark, after all... Geez, she looks even more like Jason when she's upset. She walked over to the pair and gently brushed Kara's hair back with her fingers. "It's okay, Kara," Lois assured her compassionately as she stroked her hair. "I'm glad he brought you home."
Superman turned to Lois and quietly told her, "This usually takes a while. And Richard and Jimmy are freaking out over her disappearance."
"Oh, right... I'll call Richard and let him know she's here," Lois decided as she grabbed her purse from the edge of the roof and fished out her cell phone.
"He's already replaced his cell phone?" Superman asked. "I thought everyone was on a waiting list."
"He picked his new one up in Gotham on Tuesday," Lois explained. "So did Perry, George and Sam."
"What are you going to-?"
"Shhh."
Richard answered the third ring. "Lois? Um, we got a bit of a problem here. You see-"
"Kara's here," Lois interrupted. "Superman heard her crying after she got lost and brought her to the Planet, once he realized who her dad was."
"Oh, thank God," Richard replied, the relief heavy in his voice. He muffled the mouthpiece of his phone and shouted, "Jimmy! Superman found Kara. She's at the Planet..." After a moment's pause, Richard asked, "Lois, I don't know how we lost her like that-"
"Don't worry about it. Look, I've got to go," Lois insisted. "Bye."
"Bye. Love you."
Lois ended the call and looked over at Superman. "We've still got that interview to do," she reminded him.
"That's really not a good idea," he replied decisively.
Lois rolled her eyes and complained, "Jesus... Clark! You heard what Perry said."
"Language! Little pitchers with really big ears," Superman admonished her. He sighed heavily and after a momentary pause, he quietly explained, "Lois, we can't leave a trail of breadcrumbs from Superman back to you and Jason. If any of those tabloid writers should be clever enough to do the math and question his paternity-"
"What is this preoccupation of yours with the tabloids?" Lois demanded to know. "Everyone knows they're pure bull- um, nonsense."
"Not everyone," Superman told her sadly. "I left a little bit out of my earlier explanation-"
"You left a lot out," Lois corrected him.
Superman sighed heavily and then quietly continued, "In the original timeline, Lex Luthor had escaped from prison about the same time as Zod and his cohorts. He bargained with them for rule of Australia in exchange for delivering me to them, and his means of delivering me was to kidnap you. There was too strong a public association between Lois Lane and Superman and I almost lost you because of it. I don't want to re-establish that problem."
"I can take care of myself," Lois hissed.
"But can Jason?" Superman pressed. "I couldn't bear it if anything happened to either of you."
Lois opened her mouth to object and then snapped it shut, dropping her gaze to the roof. A moment later, she looked back up at him and quietly inquired, "So... he's really yours?"
"It certainly looks that way," Superman confirmed quietly. "But I had no idea until you pointed out the resemblance earlier tonight. Now that I think about it, they both look like my paternal grandfather, Jor-El, Senior... Anyway, while we were in the conference room earlier, I peeked through the walls at Jason's cellular structure and there are some uniquely Kryptonian attributes there."
"But he doesn't have any of your abilities," Lois pointed out. "If anything, he's a bit fragile."
"I can't explain that, Lois. Not without a detailed examination, which we'll probably want to do. I have no idea what to expect developmentally with a half-human, half-Kryptonian child."
"Let's talk about that later," Lois muttered pensively. "In the meantime, maybe you can explain why you wouldn't come clean in the conference room. Would I ever have learned the truth if your hand hadn't been forced?"
"Lois, I - I was going to tell you," he said sincerely. "I just hadn't got to that part yet."
"You had a perfect opportunity to 'get to that part' before you bolted out of there earlier!"
"I'm sorry, Lois, but I - I couldn't," he explained weakly. "Not there. Not like that..." He flicked his eyes down to the crying child in his arms. "Um, can we talk about this later? I've kind of got my hands full right now."
"Oh," Lois said quickly and her face betrayed a guilty expression. "Is she going to be okay?" she asked softly.
"In time, hopefully."
Shit, how could I have been so callous, Lois scolded herself. The last thing that child needs right now is a shouting match between her dad and me. Aloud, she quietly muttered, "Well, you've got yourself a temporary reprieve." She turned away from the pair and stared out over the city as she considered the situation. After a brief pause, she said, "I can still hardly believe that Jason's actually a Kent... I guess that makes Kara his big sister."
The little girl looked up at Lois from her father's chest and asked hopefully through her tears, "Really?"
Lois turned back to them and kindly answered, "Yeah, really." She walked over to the pair and hugged Kara, telling her, "Jason's going to love having you for a sister." Kara smiled widely and that expression was quickly reflected on Lois' face. She turned to Superman and told him curtly, "I can take her." Lois wrapped her arms around Kara and lifted her from her dad's embrace.
"Kara, honey, float up a bit so you're not so heavy for her," Superman suggested as he surrendered his burden. He then turned to Lois and sincerely said, "Thank you, Lois."
"I'm doing this for her!" Lois snapped, and she turned away from him, focusing her attention on Kara and softly telling her, "Things are a bit complicated, so you're going to need to give me a little time to explain everything to your brother, okay? Let's not say anything about this just yet." My God, 'complicated' is such an understatement.
"Okay," Kara agreed, smiling widely as her tears quickly subsided.
"How do you do that?" Superman asked quietly. "I've never been able to get her calmed down so quickly."
"I've had a lot of practice while raising your son," Lois replied icily. She turned slightly and did a double take when she saw her companion dressed in his civilian clothing. "Jesus-"
"Language!"
"-Clark, where the h-, um, heck were you hiding the change of clothes?"
"Um, I have a pocket in my cape."
"A pocket?" Lois asked incredulously. "Clark, how can you possibly hide anything that bulky in your cape?" Lois asked incredulously. "Your shoes alone would be impossibly obvious. Everyone would have noticed that."
"It's a special application of some inter-dimensional Kryptonian physics called a 'pocket dimension(5)," Clark explained. "In lay terms, it's bigger on the inside -an interior volume equivalent to a medium-sized airport locker is contained in a pocket only a couple of millimeters thick in normal space. But on the inside, it's about a foot and half deep, and has plenty of room for my suits, overcoat and shoes, with enough space left over to stow my briefcase and laptop, all hermetically sealed off from normal space."
"It's kind of like Mary Poppins' magic bag," Kara explained. "He put my backpack in it when we flew here from Smallville."
"You don't say," Lois replied pleasantly as she returned her attention in Kara. She glanced back at Clark for a moment and then looked away while shaking her head. "Don't you have a magic pocket like that, too?" she asked Kara.
"Uh-uh."
"No? Well, that hardly seems fair," Lois commented pleasantly, leaning forward and planting a kiss on Kara's forehead. "You're at least as special as Mary Poppins - practically perfect in every way."
Lois silently smiled down at Kara and tightened her embrace as the little girl giggled. After a moment of silent peace, she turned back to Clark and quietly asked, "Clark, what happened in Niagara Falls the first time around - besides the obvious?"
Clark flicked his eyes over to Kara and back, before quietly answering, "I don't think it's a good idea to discuss that in range of her hearing."
Lois rolled her eyes and told him irritably, "Awfully convenient excuse there, Kent..." She was momentarily silent again before setting Kara down on her feet and taking her hand, as she told her, "It's getting cold up here. Let's go back inside." She glared over her shoulder at Clark and added, "And you... there's plenty you can tell me about all this without violating a 'G' rating, and you're going to start those explanations."
* * *
Once the trio stepped out of the elevators onto the editorial floor, the adults wasted no time collecting their laptops and sequestering themselves in the conference room. After a quick call to Polly regarding the Superman interview, Lois hooked both laptops to the video equipment and displayed her map of the EMP wave on the screen at one end of the room. Clark, meanwhile, got Kara started on her homework. Once he began narrating a short version of his life story, Lois quickly forgot her map. She surprised Clark by remaining silent for the several minutes it took for his story to unfold, and for him to finally describe his current domestic arrangement.
Lois gave him a hard look as she silently considered his story. Finally, she coldly said, "All these years... lying to me like that..."
"Lois, everything I've ever said to you was technically true," Clark protested.
"'I forgot to feed my goldfish', 'I forgot my wallet', 'I have to get my dry-cleaning'", Lois quoted sarcastically.
"I intentionally left those things undone so I'd have an excuse without lying."
"You're parsing hairs," Lois said curtly. "The fact is that you weren't honest with me, which is the same as lying."
"Keepin' secrets is stupid," Kara said quietly.
"Ohhh, I'm really going to like her," Lois said dramatically.
Clark stared at Lois for a moment and then turned to Kara and said seriously, "Honey, we can't risk having Superman's enemies find out about our friends and family. We've talked about this."
"Did you really think I'd tell Superman's enemies?" Lois asked accusingly.
"What? No, of course not," Clark answered defensively as he returned his attention to Lois. "And I was planning on telling you. It's just... we can't get careless with the secret. It's got to be a strictly 'need-to-know' thing."
Lois nodded and looked away briefly. When she turned back to Clark, she asked "So tell me something. Who's been watching Kara while you've been doing your Superman thing overnight?"
"Oh, um, my mom. We're living with her in Smallville," Clark admitted. He quickly added, "But I still check on her frequently. After every rescue I-"
"You're living with your mom and commuting from Smallville?" Lois interrupted. "You've got to be kidding me."
"What's so surprising?" Clark objected. "It's a great place for a super kid to grow up and there's plenty of room to stretch her wings without worrying about what the neighbors might see. Besides, Smallville has a sense of community that you just can't find in the city. Everyone knows everybody else and we all look out for each other. Not like here, where some people hardly even know their neighbors' names."
"Geez, that's got be, what? Fifteen hundred miles away?"
"Oh, no, it's not that far," Clark clarified with a smirk. "Actually, it's, um, just under twelve hundred miles."
Lois glared at him and said irritably, "Like that really makes a difference. You're not even in the same time zone."
"It only takes a few minutes to get here," Clark protested. "I get Kara on her bus at seven thirty - if she's on-time. That's eight thirty Eastern Time and I'm usually walking off the elevator into the bullpen by a quarter to nine... You wouldn't believe how slow a child with superspeed can be in the morning..."
Lois suppressed a smile at the familiar expression of parental frustration reflected from Clark's face. Don't you dare try to make me smile when I'm angry with you, she thought. She took a moment to school her expression and then asked, "Doesn't the school think it strange that your contact number is a Metropolis exchange? Or are you making your mom handle that, too?"
"Actually, my Metropolis number is an Internet phone number that forwards to my cell phone and that has a Kansas area code," Clark explained. "The school has the local number." Lois rolled her eyes and stared off into space away from him, her eyes unfocused as she absorbed the evening's revelations. "Lois?" he said softly.
Lois held up her hand in a stop gesture and shook her head. She was quiet for a moment. She sighed, and quietly said, "I really thought I knew you."
"You do know me."
"Do I? And which you would that be? The dork who's tripping over his own feet in the bullpen, or the hero who bench presses jumbo jets?" she asked icily.
"Both, kind of..." he began weakly.
"Who's the real you?" Lois demanded.
"Um, this is the real me," Clark insisted. "I really am a shy farm boy from Smallville, Kansas... I'm not clumsy or meek, though. I, um, kind of exaggerate the hayseed stereotype to stay under the radar here."
"I can't believe I was fooled by a pair of glasses..."
"I don't even bother with the glasses in Smallville and nobody there's ever figured it out," Clark commented.
"Are they that stupid?"
"It's not stupidity, Lois," Clark explained. "People see what they want to see and first impressions are hard to shake. Back home, everyone has a long standing impression of Clark Kent as Jonathan and Martha Kent's awkward son - which wasn't an act, by the way. Around here, everyone has an ingrained impression of Clark Kent as a clumsy dork. In both cases, that's what they continue to see and it never occurs to them that I could be anything other than that. The same thing can be applied in reverse to my Superman persona."
Lois huffed and again looked away. "That doesn't exactly make me feel better. I'm supposed to be this great journalist. I'm supposed to notice things like that."
"You are a great journalist, Lois," Clark informed her happily.
"Stop," Lois insisted. "Just stop. I'm getting information overload here. I need a couple minutes to absorb it all." Lois set her elbows on the table and dropped her head into her open palms, covering her face.
"S-Sorry," Clark offered.
"Hush."
The room was silent for a moment before Clark turned his attention to his daughter. "How's your homework coming, sweetheart?"
"Okay."
"Are you still having trouble with your English assignments?" he asked.
"Mrs. Thomas didn't assign any English homework today," Kara protested.
"Well, then show me what you did in class," Clark prodded. Kara proceeded to pull out her notebook from her backpack and show it to her dad.
Lois splayed her fingers and spied on the pair through the opening. This is so surreal, Lois concluded. Superman going over his daughter's school work with her... She's really going to need him, after all she's been through. He better not screw it up. She continued to watch while Clark reviewed Kara's work.
Several minutes later, Clark glanced over at Lois, briefly locking eyes with her before she turned away. "They're back," he informed her. "I hear them in the lobby."
Lois raised her head and nodded, shifting her head to rest her chin in her right hand as she continued to watch them.
"Kara, honey, before the others get up here, there's something that I want to talk to you about, okay?" Clark said patiently. "I need you to promise me that you won't use your powers in the city unless I say it's okay first, okay?"
"But I can control it now," Kara whined.
"You're certainly doing better than I was at your age, but you still have a long way to go," Clark told her insistently. "But that's not the point. We can't take a chance on anyone finding out about us and we don't want to worry our friends like Richard and Jimmy."
"But, Dad-"
"Kara," Clark said sternly. "This is important."
"All right, I promise," Kara complied grumpily and her shoulders slumped in resignation.
"That's my girl," Clark said happily, reaching his arm around her to pull her into a hug, which she shrugged off. "Now let's see how you're doing with the rest of your homework..."
* * *
A couple minutes after Clark and Kara resumed work on her homework, Lois interrupted them. "Clark, we'd better get to work on our homework, too. We haven't done anything on the EMP story since the others left and they'll be back any second."
"Okay," Clark replied tentatively. "But since we've agreed that Polly's getting the Superman interview, am I still doing the EMP story? I mean, you can take the story. I can find something else."
"I know that look," Lois replied excitedly. "You've got something. What is it?"
"Nothing yet - I haven't had time to look into it," Clark explained. "But I have a big problem with Lex Luthor being free after what he did and getting out of prison the way he did. Something corrupt had to be going on there. For one thing, to overturn a conviction because a witness wasn't available to be called at the appeal? That's a very dangerous precedent - all a felon would have to do to get out of prison would be to kill the witnesses and file an appeal...
"Second, Luthor is incapable of going straight. I'm sure he's up to something and it's not good, whatever it is. He thought nothing of attempting to murder millions in a maniacal scheme for wealth and power nine years ago and I saw that same obsession during the original time loop."
"We'll both work both stories," Lois decided. She shook her mouse to wake up her laptop and redisplay her map of Metropolis, which had colored circular bands radiating out from the ocean. Lois then turned to him and said seriously, "Let me show you what I was able to dig up today. This is a map of the EMP wave moving across the city. It's color coded according to the timestamps from when the power went out in that section," Lois informed him triumphantly. "The red zone is where power went out first. Unfortunately, there's not enough there to be definitive, yet, but I should have more from my source tomorrow."
"Lois, I hate to rain on your parade, but I don't think this is going to help us," Clark said apologetically.
"And why not?" Lois huffed.
"Well, that EMP wave was moving at the speed of light and would have crossed the city in about one ten-thousandth of a second," he explained. "I seriously doubt that there are any clocks in the city accurate enough to have measured its propagation over such a small area, even if they were synced to an atomic clock."
"But... this came from a source at the power plant," Lois protested. "He swore that it was accurate and even broke the rules to give it to me. And you went to the power plant for this stuff, too!"
"I was looking at it in terms of the severity of damage to their equipment," Clark explained. "That's the same angle that Star Labs is working on, by the way. In fact, I had a discussion with Doctor Faulkner on the matter late this afternoon, but they still have some work to do before we have anything to act on."
Lois sighed irritably and lowered her gaze to the table top. She was quiet for a moment and then added angrily, "Well, we've got no joy from the Washington idiots, either. They still think it was some kind of nuclear device and are chasing their tails looking for radiation. They've diverted half of the teams to Boston and Philadelphia because of the high background radiation they found there..." She softened her tone and asked quietly, "Those were two of the nuked cities you were talking about earlier, weren't they?"
"Yes," Clark confirmed grimly. He paused a moment and then said thoughtfully, "Star Labs is our best bet, but we're going to have to wait for Faulkner's team to reprogram their equip-"
"We're back!" Jimmy interrupted as he swung the conference room door open. He walked through with Richard and Jason right behind him, all of them laden with takeout bags. "Who's hungry?"
"Me!" Jason chimed in.
"Me, too!" Kara echoed.
"There's our girl," Richard commented cheerfully. He turned to Clark and apologetically told him, "Clark, I really don't know what happened. One second she was right there with Jason-"
"I'm sorry," Kara said meekly.
"It's okay, she's okay. Please, don't worry about it," Clark assured Richard. He looked over at Kara and pointedly added, "I'm sure it won't happen again."
"Next time I'll have to tie myself to her," Richard joked. He set the takeout bags on the table and started pulling the items out.
"So didya' get to go flyin' with Superman?" Jason asked Kara excitedly.
"Uh-huh," Kara replied quietly.
"What was it like?" Jason asked eagerly.
"What was what like?"
"Flyin' with Superman!" Jason clarified impatiently as he lifted his arms above his head in an imitation simple imitation of the hero's flying pose. "I wanna' go flyin' with him, too. What was it like?"
You'll probably find out soon enough, Lois thought. "Jason!" she yelled. "Don't pester Kara about Superman. Find something else to talk about."
"But, Mommy-" Jason complained.
"I mean it!"
Richard smiled at Jason's overacted disappointment, while the little boy pouted and spun back and forth in his chair. "It's not the end of the world, kiddo," he told him firmly. "Besides... we've got burritos!" Jason looked up with a smile, and as Richard turned to get him some food, he finally noticed the display at the end of the room and pointed at it. "What have we got here?"
"A useless map from an unreliable source," Lois informed him. "Let's get the munchkins fed and we'll fill everyone in later." Richard nodded and he continued emptying the takeout bags while the rest of the group anxiously waited for the meal to begin. Lois covertly watched Richard as he split up the food. He's a good man, Lois thought somberly. And still blissfully ignorant of how complicated our lives just got. How do I tell the only father that Jason's ever known that his son has another father? And who will I tell him it is?
Thursday, September 28, 2006 6:00PM EDT
Clark tucked a napkin in the collar of Kara's yellow turtleneck and set a burrito on a paper plate in front of her as she eyed the meal skeptically. "Just try a bite," he encouraged her. She struggled with it and some of the filling dropped out the back end as she bit into it. Her eyes lit up as she chewed and she eagerly took a much larger second bite. "I think it's safe to say that she likes burritos," Clark commented mirthfully.
"Me, too!" Jason declared eagerly as he took another bite of his own half-eaten burrito.
As the group ate their meal, they were entertained by Clark's recollection of some of the culinary options offered in the places he'd traveled, provoking reactions of disbelief from his audience over such exotic menu choices such as fried scorpions. Lois was still attempting to reconcile the tableau before her with what she now knew and she was grateful that his animated tale gave her an excuse to closely observe him and Kara without seeming too obvious. However, Richard had noticed her rapt attention by the time the anecdotes and the meal ended.
As the group finished their dinner, Lois shifted her attention to Jason, who was picking at the tidbits on his plate that had dropped from his burritos. It was clear that Clark's tales of other cultures menus hadn't affected the children's appetites. They'd both finished two burritos and split a third, and afterwards meticulously gathered all the dropped morsels with their forks. "All done!" Jason declared as he slid out of his seat.
"Me, too," Kara echoed. She also slid out of her chair and followed Jason to the door.
"It amazes me how much some kids can pack away and still be thin as a rod," Richard observed. "Does she always eat like that?"
"Um, usually, I guess," Clark replied awkwardly. "She, um, she seems to have a healthy appetite."
"Jason ate just as much," Lois pointed out. She finally noticed the children's attempted escape and hollered, "Hey! Where do you two think you're going?"
"It's okay, Miss Lane. I can keep an eye on them," Jimmy offered. "I want to get some pictures of them anyway." Once Lois nodded her assent, Jimmy led Jason and Kara into the bullpen.
Richard turned and looked at the map still projected on the screen at the end of the room. "So back to what you were saying earlier..." Richard ventured cautiously. "This map is garbage? Did any of your sources pan out?"
"We still have Star Labs," Lois answered tentatively.
"What do they have?"
"Let me show you," Clark offered. He reached for the projector remote and his brow wrinkled in concentration. "How do you switch this to my laptop?"
So Clark is the one with the good sources, Richard thought. Lois didn't really need to stay late after all. She just doesn't want to let go of the story. Why is she so competitive with him?
"Here, give it to me," Lois commanded. She pressed a couple icons on the remote's touch screen and the screen across the room switched its display to Clark's laptop.
"Thanks," Clark told her. "Anyway, these two pictures are of microchips taken from some of the cell towers around town, at a million times magnification. See the pitting on the surface?"
"The EMP damage," Lois commented. "It looks like a lunar landscape..."
"...which isn't good," Clark added. "Each 'crater' is from a micro-explosion on the surface of the chip..."
"...which Star Labs is trying to measure to quantify the damage..."
"...but they were initially only grading these pictures on a scale of one to ten for severity. It did isolate it to Donner Heights in West Oaktown, but it's too subjective to really be meaningful..."
"...but that didn't stop the feds from trying to read between the lines..." Lois said irritably.
"...despite it being a huge leap of faith. If you look at these two pictures, both chips rated a nine on the initial scale-" Clark explained.
"They look pretty much the same to me," Richard interrupted. Geez, how do they finish each others' sentences like that?
"Well, um, they're not," Clark stated tentatively. "N-not really. If you, um, measure the area of damage against the total surface area of the chip, you get, um, ninety-four point seven six two zero percent for the one on the left, and, um, eighty-nine point five two one one percent on the right..."
"...and that kind of accuracy could lead us to the source of the EMP." Lois added triumphantly.
"Doctor Faulkner's team is pulling an all-nighter to do just that," Clark added. "They're reprogramming their optical scanning equipment to use the revised algorithms and if all goes well, they'll start rescanning the microchip images tomorrow morning..."
"So we're going to have to wait until they finish processing the data," Lois concluded. She turned to Clark and asked, "When do we follow up with Faulkner?"
"'We'?" Richard asked in surprise. "Perry gave the story to Clark, remember?" He has a handle on everything, Richard thought. It's his story. Let it go so we can go home.
"There's been a change of plans," Lois declared. "Polly will cover Superman. In fact, she should be here any minute for me to brief her... And Clark and I will work together on the EMP. Clark, when-"
"Lois, Perry was rather insistent that you cover the Superman story when I talked to him earlier," Richard interrupted. Please drop it, Lois, Richard thought. Let Clark handle this.
"Your uncle should be delighted that I was able to arrange for Polly to do it!" Lois hollered. "Superman was not at all happy about my editorial and he flat out refused to go on the record with me."
"Um, th-that sounds a bit harsh," Clark observed quietly. "I can't, um, believe that he m-meant it like that. It really doesn't sound like him."
Lois glared at Clark and said icily, "Well, I guess he was just full of surprises tonight then, wasn't he? Now for the third time, when do we follow up with Faulkner?"
"T-Tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock," Clark answered timidly.
"So in the meantime... Luthor?"
"Luthor," Clark confirmed as he nodded his head.
"You don't really think Lex Luthor had something to do with the EMP, do you?" Richard asked curiously. Please say 'no'.
Lois' eyes briefly widened in surprise at Richard's question and her eyes darted over to Clark, whose face also expressed surprise. After a moment's consideration, she returned her attention to Richard and quietly stated, "I wouldn't rule it out. But even if he wasn't involved in that, you can be sure that he's been up to nothing good."
* * *
Thursday, September 28, 2006 7:00PM EDT
Clark looked up from his laptop and through the glass wall into the bullpen, where Jason and Kara were playing under Jimmy's watchful supervision. Kara had talked Jason out of playing Godzilla. He was now playing Superman, with his arms out in front of him and running around making whooshing sound while Kara gave him tips on the proper form for arm movements while flying. Jason swooped in to rescue an unsuspecting Kara from an imaginary building on fire. Rescue complete, Kara wanted her turn to be the superhero, which sparked a little argument over gender, since Superman was obviously not a girl.
Clark suppressed a chuckle while he continued to watch the tableau and barely registered Lois' complaining. "How did he manage to keep such a low profile since he got out?" she demanded to know as she slammed down the phone. "None of my sources have anything."
"Well, did you ever consider that Superman might have been wrong about him?" Richard suggested. "Maybe it really was that other guy who did everything. Otis something, I think."
"Otis Fortney was a buffoon," Lois said harshly. "He was a high school dropout who could barely find his ass with both hands - strictly small-time, mostly doing B and E's until he hooked up with Luthor. After that he was probably little more than an errand boy and eventually a scapegoat for Luthor when his mad plan failed so miserably."
"Whoa, easy there, Lois," Richard backpedalled. "I'm just playing devil's advocate here."
"Well, next time, try doing some homework on the topic first," she snapped. "Anybody who spent two minutes researching Fortney would realize what an idiot the man was."
"Okay, okay, I get the point," Richard protested and he held up his hands in a surrender gesture. Lois just glared at him momentarily before returning to her laptop.
"Um, Richard?" Clark said tentatively. "Luthor, um, already had a long history with the courts years before Otis ever showed up. He'd... He'd swindled tens of thousands of people out of their life savings and made off with about a hundred million dollars. There was, um, a judgment against him for restitution, but the money was gone. He tried to blame it all on his accountant, Milton Meier, who, um, ended up dead before he could defend himself against the slander. I suspect that, um... that Luthor hid the money in some other accounts, which was probably what he used to buy up all that desert land before he tried to drop the west coast into the sea.
"If... if you closely scrutinize that attempted genocide with his pyramid scheme from years earlier, you'll find a lot of similarities. For instance, some poor scapegoat ending up dead before he could defend himself. Milton Meier after his first scheme went south and Otis Fortney the last time."
"Have you found anything a little more recent?" Lois asked. "My sources have come up dry."
"Well, Luthor's name popped up in some unexpected places in the legal records," Clark explained. "Unfortunately, the court records are sealed. All I've got are the docket entries. There's really not much more I can do here."
"There are ways to find out what's in those court records," Lois reminded him. "Once we're done here-"
"Polly's finally here," Richard interrupted.
Lois spun around and looked out into the bullpen where she spotted the slender older woman talking with Jimmy and the children before finally making her way to the conference room, pulling her wheeled laptop case behind her. As she walked through the door, Lois irritably pointed out, "I called you over an hour ago."
"I had to make myself beautiful," Polly said dramatically.
"This is a serious interview with a major public figure. Not a blind date," Lois argued.
"I think that you've mistaken me for Cat Grant," Polly said sharply. "I don't do blind dates... or my interview subjects, no matter how much my grandson adores him."
Lois glared at her while Richard suggested, "Well... Let's get started. We printed out his basic background information. The bio's there, too."
"Thank you, Richard," Polly told him sincerely. She put on her reading glasses and began to peruse the printouts.
Lois sighed and added, "You should be aware of some of the interview idiosyncrasies, too," Lois added irritably. "Don't be surprised if he's late - rescues come first. He's also been known to fly off without warning in the middle of an interview to answer a call for help. He's usually not gone long, though."
"I'll keep that in mind," Polly answered without looking up from her printouts.
Lois suddenly realized that the subject of their strategy session was sitting across from her. How many times was he right there, as Clark, while I went on and on about Superman? she thought. While I went on and on about him! Oh, God, the things I said, right in front of him... She felt her checks grow warm and lowered her head to hide the blush. She glanced over at Clark and said icily, "Clark, didn't you say that you were about done for the night?"
"Um, well, I probably won't make much more headway from the office," he admitted. "But the kids seem to be having such a good time together... I'd really hate to spoil their fun."
Lois rolled her eyes and sighed. You would throw that back at me. Jerk. "Well, then maybe you should check on them," Lois said irritably.
"Oh, um, okay."
Lois waited for Clark to join Jimmy and the children in the bullpen before finally returning her attention to Polly. "Oh, and he'll try to control the interview," Lois warned. "Don't let him get away with that."
* * *
Richard could only conclude that Lois was furious with Kent. They may have agreed to work together on the EMP and were still finishing each other's sentences, but he recognized the tinge of anger that accented her words when she talked to him. What on Earth is going on there? he wondered. This can't still be about the EMP. She's never been that upset over a story before. While Lois ran down her lists of do's and don'ts with Polly, he glanced into the bullpen at her old partner. Clark was squatting down in front of Jason and Kara, exaggerating his facial expressions as he spoke to them and both of the kids were giggling at whatever it was he was saying. He sure knows how to keep those two entertained, Richard observed. If only it were that easy with Lois.
He returned his attention to the women in the room as Lois continued with her rules of engagement for the Superman interview. "...And you can forget about the surprise questions," Lois declared. "One, you won't surprise him. In fact, not only is he probably eavesdropping on us, he's probably also scanned our research and knows exactly what you're going to ask. But, you can still ask the hard questions. You just won't surprise him, so don't make an ambush part of your interview strategy... And don't let him weasel out of the tough questions, either. He's really good at changing the subject when he doesn't want to answer the question."
She's mad at Superman, too, Richard thought. Is there anyone she isn't mad at lately?
"Lois, I'm no cub reporter and this is hardly my first celebrity interview," Polly reminded her. "I think we can skip the interview tactics and get right to the background material."
"I don't think you understand," Lois insisted. "You have to be tough with him."
"Don't worry about it, Lois. He's not going to walk all over me. But I'm not going to let him have it with both barrels either... Now, you wrote in your first article that he was the last of his kind?"
"Yeah, his world was destroyed when their sun went nova - the entire population was wiped out," Lois answered somberly. "He believed that he was the only survivor..."
Richard listened intently as Lois answered Polly's questions and continued to offer suggestions for the interview. Well, it looks like Lois will get her wish, Richard thought. With Polly doing the interview, Superman won't be coming back into her life. Now, if only we could get our life together back on track - nothing's gone right between us all week. Richard again looked out in the bullpen, where Clark was now seated with a child perched on each leg as he entertained them and Jimmy took pictures of the trio. Where does Clark fit into all this and why is Lois so obsessed with him? Richard wondered.
* * *
Clark was enjoying his time with the two children, entertaining them with children's tales from cultures from around the globe and beyond while he eavesdropped on Lois and Polly. He had a moment of concern when he heard Lois describe Krypton's end, but Kara simply snuggled into his embrace and he continued his storytelling. By the time he reached the story's end, Kara's sadness had been forgotten.
"Tell us another story, Mister Kent," Jason pleaded with him.
"Yeah, another story, Dad."
"Sounds like you have a fan club, Clark," Jimmy said mirthfully.
"This time, make it a story with monsters in it," Jason added. "Do you know any Godzilla stories?"
Clark chuckled at the two of them. "Monsters? Are you sure you want a scary story?" he teased.
"Uh-huh," Jason assured him.
Clark could hear that Lois and Polly were nearing the end of the briefing and knew that this stolen moment would have to come to an end. He looked over at the conference room and reluctantly told them, "It looks like they're almost done in the conference room, so we'll have to save the story for next time."
"Awww!" the children both complained.
Clark lifted them off his lap as he stood up, setting them both gently on the floor and suggesting, "Let's see what the others are up to, okay? I think they might be getting ready to go home."
"Before you go, let me get you a copy of these pictures," Jimmy insisted. "I have some good ones."
"Sure," Clark agreed as he continued guiding the kids to the conference room.
* * *
Richard looked up as Jason entered the room and ran over to him and began telling him about the amazing story that Mister Kent told them. Kara ran up behind him, quietly nodding in agreement to the description. Richard laughed lightly at his son's enthusiasm. Well, I know who we're calling to babysit if I can ever talk Lois into an evening out, he thought mirthfully.
While Richard listened attentively to Jason, Clark reclaimed his seat across from Lois and asked, "How's it coming along?"
"Just about done," Polly informed him. She turned back to Lois and asked, "One last thing - kryptonite. Where did it come from, and how much of it is floating around?"
"The meteorites are radioactive pieces of his home world, so-" Lois began.
"Here they are," Jimmy said loudly as he entered the room waving a thumb drive in the air. "You can copy them all down to your laptop."
"Jimmy, what have you got there?" Richard asked curiously.
"Oh, it's some pictures of the kids that I took earlier," Jimmy answered cheerfully. "I got some great shots." He looked up and noticed that Clark's laptop was still displayed on the projector and suggested, "Since you're already hooked up, we can do a slide show."
"Jimmy..." Lois said irritably. "We're trying to finish up a briefing here, so we can all go home."
"I'd barely have time to get there before I'd have to turn around and come back," Polly commented. "I don't mind the distraction."
"Lois, you don't have to sit through the whole thing," Richard said cautiously. "Jimmy can start his slide show, and once you and Polly are done, we can leave if you want to." Maybe there are some good ones of Jason for our family album, Richard thought.
"Just give me a second," Jimmy said while he took the seat beside Clark and copied his pictures down to the laptop. A couple minutes later, he was ready to begin and asked eagerly, "Do you kids want to see this? Hey, guys? Jason. Kara. The slide show's starting!" The youngsters showed little enthusiasm in the slide show, but climbed into the seats to Richard's right and looked over at the screen. Richard chuckled at their reaction as he settled in to enjoy Jimmy's slide show.
Lois finally pulled herself away from the distraction and returned her attention to Polly. "Kryptonite comes from meteorites from Superman's home world, Krypton. It's radioactive and deadly to him. I have no idea how it ended up on Earth or how much of it is here," she explained.
"How deadly is it?" Polly asked. "Like cigarettes are deadly or like mustard gas?"
"Probably more like mustard gas, but you'll have to ask him," Lois answered thoughtfully. "I'd advise against putting those details in a story, however. Too many bad guys have a grudge to settle with him for us to be providing a detailed exposé on his Achilles heel."
"Point taken," Polly replied.
"Hey!" Jason interrupted. "Kara looks just like me!"
Richard's eyes shot wide as he scrutinized the two nearly identical smiling faces staring back from the screen. He couldn't dispute Jason's assessment as he compared the matching pairs of cerulean blue eyes, along with matching noses, mouths, and chins. They also both had a dimple in their left cheek as they smiled back at the camera. Richard softly moaned, "No." It can't be! he thought.
Jason hadn't caught the despair in Richard's voice and argued, "She does, too! Even our eyes match, and Grandma says that nobody has eyes the same kinda' blue as mine. But Kara's are the same."
"So are Dad's," Kara added quietly.
Richard turned from the screen and looked at Clark, who was staring over the glasses that had slipped down his nose with a guilty expression on his face. He quickly pushed his glasses back in place and looked down at his hands, suddenly nervous at the attention. Richard was forced to concede that not only was Clark's eye color an exact match with Jason and Kara's, both children also had the same cleft chin. No, there's got to be another explanation, Richard thought.
"Mommy, why does Kara look like me?" Jason asked insistently.
"Jason, don't worry about it," Lois replied sternly. Richard looked over at her and noticed that she also had a guilty expression on her face.
Jason was quiet for a moment then turned to Kara and asked in a loud whisper, "Why do you look like me?"
"We're related," Kara answered simply.
"We are?" Jason asked incredulously.
"Uh-huh," Kara answered. A wide smile spread across her face and she told him excitedly, "Um, your mom said that you're actually a Kent and I'm your big sister. Isn't that swell?"
Thursday, September 28, 2006 7:45PM EDT
A stunned silence fell over the room at Kara's declaration, with the adults all staring wide-eyed at the picture on the screen. As Richard scrutinized the picture, he unconsciously shook his head and thought, No! She did not say that. Jason was premature. He's not Clark's. Kara must have misunderstood.
"How can you be my sister?" Jason asked in confusion. "We don't have the same Mommy and Daddy."
"Because my dad is your real fath-"
"Kara," Clark interrupted sternly. "We shouldn't talk about that here." He rose from his seat and began walking around the table towards Kara.
"Why not?" Kara asked innocently. A guilty expression suddenly crossed her face and she asked quietly, "Was it supposed to be a secret?"
Clark sighed and awkwardly said, "Well, it's, um, it's kind of complicated." He came to a stop beside her chair, and lifted her up to his hip. "Let's you and I have a private chat and I'll try to explain it," he said pleasantly and he began walking toward the door.
"Am I in trouble?" Kara asked contritely.
"Oh, no, sweetheart," Clark assured her. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just didn't do a very good job explaining things."
"You can say that again," Lois muttered under her breath. Her words broke the others free of their stupor and they turned their gaze from the picture to her, except for Clark who ignored the comment and quickly walked out of the conference room. When Lois noticed everyone looking at her, her eyes grew wide and a nervous expression appeared on her face before she quietly said, "Oh, shit."
That was practically an admission, Richard realized. She lied to me! Aloud, he angrily hissed, "Lois! I think you owe me an explanation."
"Shut up, White!" Lois commanded angrily. "We're not discussing it here, and especially not in front of the kids."
What difference will that make now? Richard thought. He opened his mouth to voice his argument but was interrupted by Jason's distressful cry.
"Mommy! What did she mean?"
Lois sighed in frustration and momentarily glanced into the bullpen where Clark had Kara seated on top of his desk as he sat in front her, speaking quietly. She only allowed the briefest indulgence in the tableau before returning her attention to her son. "It's okay, Jason," she assured him. "There's nothing to worry about."
"But what did she mean?" he persisted. His eyes now shined with unshed tears.
Lois quickly walked over to him and took his hand. "C'mon. I think that maybe we need to have a private talk, too."
"Lois!" Richard shouted after her.
"Not now!" she snapped. She led Jason out of the room and over to Richard's office, leaving her fiancé and stunned colleagues silent in the room. All three of them returned their gaze to the screen and sat riveted to the picture that had sparked the revelation.
A few minutes later, Polly broke the silence as she said quietly, "Out of the mouths of babes..." She turned from the display and walked over to Clark's laptop and pulled out the video cable. Jimmy and Richard both spun around to look at her. "I think you've seen enough, Richard," Polly explained. "No need to upset you any further."
"It'll hardly make a difference now," Richard commented miserably.
"Jimmy, would you please take Clark's laptop back to him?" Polly suggested.
"Sure," Jimmy agreed quickly. He gathered up the laptop and cables, and quickly fled the discomfited atmosphere that had engulfed the room.
Polly turned back to Richard and asked sympathetically, "Are you all right?"
"You really need to ask?" Richard asked bitterly. At Polly's pointed look, he sighed heavily and said in a softer tone, "She lied to me."
"I know," Polly replied. "I've known that for a long time."
"You knew about this?" Richard snapped.
"Well, I didn't have signed confessions, but I had a pretty good idea," Polly answered patiently. "All of us old timers knew something had to have happened in Niagara Falls-"
"Niagara Falls?" Richard questioned.
"Perry sent the two of them there under cover, posing as newlyweds. Things were off between them when they got back and it was only a few weeks later that Clark left to 'find himself'. None of us knew what had happened, but something clearly had. Then when Jason was born... Well, nobody believed for a second that he was premature-"
"But Lois' sister had a ten pound baby," Richard protested.
"Doesn't matter. If Jason had really been that early, he'd have been wired up to a machine in NICU and you wouldn't even have been able to hold him for the first few weeks. But he was fine... Anyway, some of us did the math and noticed that it was about eight and a half months earlier that Lois had been in Niagara Falls with Clark, posing as his bride... Most of us came to the conclusion that Jason had to be Clark's, though there were a few with a more outlandish theory. It may seem kind of silly thinking back on it now, but some people actually thought he was Superman's love child. Fortunately, that theory died a well-deserved death once Jason's health issues became known."
"Someone should have told me," Richard insisted angrily.
"Norm Palmer tried," Polly reminded him. "So did Gil. And I don't believe for a second that Perry would have held his tongue. But you refused to hear it."
"I believed her," Richard admitted sadly. "Pretty stupid, huh?"
"No, Richard, you weren't stupid," Polly assured him. "You were in love and seeing what you wanted to see. I made the same mistake with my ex-husband, refusing to acknowledge any evidence that he was anything other than completely faithful. Until his mistress filed her paternity suit. That, I couldn't ignore. Once I'd finally opened my eyes, all the clues were right there for me to see, if I had only chosen to look. I suspect you'll discover that it's a similar situation for you."
"I... I don't even know what to think right now," Richard admitted.
"I know the feeling," Polly replied somberly. "If you want my advice... don't say or do anything about this for a couple days. Give the shock a chance to wear off and then take a long, hard look at your relationship. Try to separate fantasy from reality and figure out what you have left and if it's enough. In my case, it wasn't - I divorced the S.O.B." She quickly gathered her remaining notes and printouts and stuffed them into her bag. On her way out of the room, she paused in the doorway and turned back to face him. "Richard, please think about what I said," she counseled him. "And good luck, no matter what you decide to do about this." Richard nodded his acknowledgement and Polly continued back to her desk.
* * *
"It's really no different for you than it is for your friend, Mark," Lois told Jason patiently. "He has two daddies - one who lives with him and his mother, and another daddy that lives somewhere else - Baltimore, I think... You've also got two daddies - Richard and Clark. Your Daddy Clark and I were together like mommies and daddies are before I met Richard. He's your biological father, like Mark's dad, Mister Evans, is his biological father."
"Are you and Daddy Clark divorced?" Jason asked sadly.
"Daddy Clark and I were never married, but it's kind of like that. And it's because Clark is your daddy that you look the way you do. You were created from a little piece of me and a little piece of him. But he had to go away to do something really, really important before you were born. We didn't know that you were on the way before he left, and I didn't have any way to get a hold of him to tell him until he got back a few days ago."
"But what about Daddy?" Jason whined.
"Your Daddy Richard is kind of like a step-father, like Mark's step-dad, Mister Doyle. After Daddy Clark left, I was all alone and then I met Richard. He didn't know about Daddy Clark, and when we found out that you were going to be born, he wanted to be your daddy, so we became a family. He's still your daddy. It's just that Clark is your daddy, too, and that means that Kara is your sister, and Clark's mom in Smallville is your grandma... Just think of all the extra presents you'll get at Christmas this year with our family that much bigger."
"Really?" Jason replied enthusiastically with a wide smile spreading across his face. "Are they gonna' come and live with us?"
"That's not quite how things work," Lois explained. "Mommies are only supposed to live with one daddy at a time. We can't all live under the same roof with both Daddy Clark and Daddy Richard. And Clark is Kara's only daddy, so she has to stay with him. But you'll still get to see a lot of your Daddy Clark and your sister, Kara, and your Grandma Kent, too, eventually."
"Oh," Jason said quietly. He was silent for a minute and his brow wrinkled in confusion. He looked up at his mother and asked quietly, "Am I gonna' grow up to be like Daddy Clark?"
"What do you mean?" Lois asked patiently.
"He's Superman," Jason elaborated. "Am I gonna' be strong like him someday?"
Lois' eyes grew wide and she asked apprehensively, "Where'd you hear that he was Superman?" She paused momentarily and then sternly added, "Did Kara say something to you?" She looked out into the bullpen and saw Kara shaking her head vigorously as she and Clark looked back at them. Jesus, this is quickly spiraling out of control, Lois thought.
"No, I just knew," Jason answered. "They were talking 'bout Superman on TV and showed his picture, and Daddy Clark was standing right there, and he looked the same."
"Superman doesn't wear glasses," Lois pointed out.
"He does when he's Daddy Clark," Jason argued emphatically.
Before Lois could respond, there was a knock at the door and Clark stepped through with Kara behind him. "Sounds like we have a very clever little boy here," Clark said cheerfully in a low voice.
"He figures it out in a day, but I was oblivious for years," Lois murmured irritably.
"Remember what I said about perceptions?" Clark reminded her. "He never saw me as the office dork, so the glasses and the ugly tweed suit didn't make a difference." He turned to Jason and squatted down in front of him, and said seriously in a voice pitched low, "Jason, most people don't know I'm Superman and you must not tell them. There are naughty people that Superman stopped from doing bad things who would cause a lot of problems for people I care about if they knew I was Superman. It has to stay a secret. Will you promise me not to tell anyone?"
"I promise," Jason complied quickly.
"That means you can't tell anyone that Superman is your daddy, either," Lois added sternly. "And no exceptions. You don't tell your friends. You don't tell Uncle Ron or Aunt Lucy or your cousins. And you especially don't tell Daddy Richard. Do you understand?"
"I know," Jason whined irritably. "I already promised."
"Son, we don't mean to be cross," Clark said patiently. "It's just really important. People could get hurt if the wrong people found out about it."
"I said I wouldn't tell!" Jason complained.
"All right, good enough," Clark said. "I'm sorry if I upset you and I know this is all a bit of shock, but you know what? I'm very proud of you, Jason, and I'm glad you're my son."
Jason expression turned apprehensive, and he asked quietly, "Is... is Daddy Richard gonna' go away now that you're back?"
"Jason, I'm not trying to take you away from your Daddy Richard," Clark assured him. "He seems to be a good man."
"But why's he so mad?" Jason pressed.
Lois smiled reassuringly at Jason and explained, "He's just surprised. I never told him about Daddy Clark. You know, he's going to want to talk to you about this, too. Would you like me to go get him?"
* * *
After his conversation with Polly, Richard sat quietly at the conference room table and reflected on his current situation, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Not only was he shaken by the sudden recognition of a rival, but Lois' recent behavior now struck him as suspicious. He replayed his interactions with her since Clark's return and noted how distinctly different her behavior was now than it had been before. She'd been more distant, more confrontational, and completely unresponsive to his romantic overtures. And to think that I was worried about her history with Superman, Richard thought.
He also angrily recalled that Lois had originally planned on 'briefing' Clark at his place - it had only been his insistence that led them to work late at the office instead. But Lois clearly didn't have any material worth briefing him on - Clark had been a step ahead of her. What exactly was she planning to do? Richard wondered. Would she really be so quick to cheat with Clark after he came back?
His thoughts were interrupted by Lois' knock on the conference room door, which he answered with a cold stare. She ignored his attempted intimidation and harshly said, "You need to talk to Jason about all this."
"What, Clark couldn't handle him?" Richard replied sarcastically.
"Clark may be his biological father, but you're still his daddy and he needs a little reassurance that Daddy still loves him," Lois said angrily. "Or should I tell him I was wrong about that?"
Richard's expression immediately changed to one of embarrassment. Jason is a victim here, too, Richard thought. He sighed and irritably informed Lois, "Fine, I'll talk to him."
Lois stepped aside to let him pass through the door and as he walked by, she warned him, "And don't you dare fight with Clark over this in front of Jason."
He looked back at her, narrowing his eyes, and retorted sarcastically, "It's reassuring to know how highly you think of me, Lois... Were you expecting me to take a swing at him or something like that?"
"Better safe than sorry," Lois replied irritably as the two walked over to Richard's office, where Clark was silently standing outside the door and proudly looking in at the children.
As they approached his office, Richard heard Kara's excited voice through the open door as she spoke to Jason. "...and Uncle Tom and Aunt Sarah have a stable with horses, and we even get to ride them sometimes!" she told him.
"Do you think they'd let me ride, too?" Jason asked eagerly.
"Grandpa said we'd have to wait before we go riding again," Kara said disappointedly. "They've got termites, and Uncle Tom fell through the floor and broke his leg."
"Oh," Jason said unhappily.
"But he'll get better real soon!"
Clark suddenly seemed to notice Richard and Lois, and his proud disposition immediately transformed into an awkward demeanor as he quietly said to his daughter, "Um, Kara, honey, Richard needs to talk to Jason. Let's give them some privacy." Kara quickly joined Clark in the doorway and he led her back to his desk.
Richard finally walked into his office, where Jason was sitting on the couch kicking his legs and looking up at him nervously. "Hey, kiddo," Richard greeted him seriously. "You okay?"
"Uh-huh," Jason replied quietly.
Richard sat down beside him and commented, "I guess all this stuff is kind of confusing, huh?"
"I dunno."
"Well, this doesn't change anything between us," Richard assured him. "I still love you and your mom and we're all going to be all right. Okay?" Richard wrapped an arm around Jason and pulled him tight. I really hope we'll be all right, Richard thought.
* * *
Polly looked up from her notes when she noticed Clark and Kara rush past her to join Lois and Jason in Richard's office. She smiled thoughtfully at the pair and walked over to Jimmy's desk, where he was engrossed in organizing the collections of pictures on his PC. She leaned against his desk and asked with a chuckle, "So what do you think of that little soap opera over there?"
"What? Oh, that. Quite a surprise," Jimmy stated pensively. He looked over at the Richard's office as Lois jogged to the conference room and reemerged a moment later, following Richard back. "Richard doesn't look very happy."
"Of course not," Polly agreed. "He's just realized that he's been lied to, led on and used."
"Oh, um, we don't know the full story there," Jimmy protested. He looked over at Richard's office and spotted Clark leading his daughter back to his desk.
"You don't think she ever really intended to marry him, do you?" Polly asked harshly.
"Well, um, maybe not, but-"
"But nothing," Polly interrupted. "She led him on."
"I'd give her the benefit of the doubt," Jimmy objected.
"I wouldn't," Polly answered. "Look, it's not that I dislike her. I just think that Richard's really gotten a raw deal here."
"I'd rather not speculate on any of that," Jimmy insisted.
"Fair enough," Polly conceded, dropping the topic and falling silent as she turned to observe the group in Richard's office. A moment later, she urgently told Jimmy, "Listen... when Superman shows up later, try to get a good picture of me with him, okay? My grandson's a huge fan and it would just make his day if I could give him a picture of his Nana with Superman... Let's see my ex try to top that."
"I'll do my best," Jimmy promised, smiling at the thought.
The discussion was interrupted by Lois shouting across the bullpen. "Clark!" she shouted. "Get your butt over here." She had just emerged from Richard's office and was pulling her coat on. Richard appeared behind her with a pained expression on his face as he guided Jason out of the office in front of him.
"Looks like they're getting ready to get out of here," Polly commented.
Clark had an anxious expression on his face as he and Kara walked over to the family group. Clark squatted down and gave Jason a friendly hug before turning him over to Kara. The little girl also gave her brother a hug, and snuck in a kiss on the cheek, which Jason quickly wiped off. The adults spoke briefly and then the Lane/White family marched off to the elevators. Clark had a sad expression on his face as he watched them go.
"It's going to be tough on Richard for awhile," Polly noted as she observed the tableau with Jimmy. "And I'm not sure it's much better for Clark."
Jimmy replied hopefully, "I'm sure everything will work out for the best." As they watched, Kara ran into the conference room and retrieved her book bag while Clark retrieved their coats from the closet.
"What's best isn't necessarily easy, and sometimes, it can hurt like hell," Polly whispered conspiratorially. She looked back up at Clark and Kara and smiled politely as the pair came over to them to say their good-byes.
* * *
Thursday, September 28, 2006 9:20PM EDT
Things were uncharacteristically awkward in the Lane/White household, while Richard read a bedtime story to Jason, and Lois sipped a glass of wine downstairs in the kitchen. The couple had hardly spoken since leaving the Daily Planet, the exception being Lois' insistent declaration that Richard should put Jason to bed, to help reassure him that Daddy was still Daddy. It was taking longer than usual this time, which Lois was grateful for. It gave her more time to prepare for the confrontation that she knew was coming. This isn't how he was supposed to find out, Lois thought. And since I can't tell him the truth about Clark, I have no choice but to let him believe that I'd intentionally deceived him.
The reprieve had also given her a chance to find out about Polly's Superman interview from Jimmy. She'd texted him with instructions to call her when it was over and he'd just called in his report: Superman left to return to Krypton in response to a distress call from his uncle, who was stranded there. However, he'd perished long before his signal ever reached Earth. The ship's hull had been breached and its atmosphere vented to space.
Most of the interview had focused on Superman's survey of Krypton after the unsuccessful rescue. He had described the beauty and majesty of Krypton and its people prior to the holocaust in great detail - virtually all of it wiped out in a few terrible moments so long ago. He then described the devastation of the planet, with nearly half of it blown away in huge chunks. He'd managed to identify the city of his birth on the hemisphere that remained, but it was an unrecognizable pile of scorched and shattered crystals.
The only structure left standing was a monument to a trio of Krypton's founding fathers, but that had been transformed into kryptonite during the disaster. He'd barely escaped the poison when he finally detected it and had returned to Earth with a severe case of kryptonite poisoning. Clever, Lois thought. All of it technically true, but with so many details left out that it puts it in a completely different context than what he described to me.
"Did he say anything about me?" Lois asked.
"Polly asked why he didn't want you to do the interview," Jimmy revealed. "He said that you were working on something far more important and that he didn't want to distract you from it... He also said that he wants to go with a reporting pool from now on, instead of selecting a single reporter for his press contact. We're supposed to ask Perry if he can set that up for him."
"A pool?" Lois asked in disbelief. He didn't say anything about that to me earlier.
"Yeah, that's what he said," Jimmy confirmed. "I got some good shots of him, too, including a couple with the Daily Planet globe in the background. I hope Perry likes those."
"I'm sure they'll be great, Jimmy," Lois assured him. "Thanks for the update."
"No problem," Jimmy said cheerfully. "Let me know if you need anything else."
"I will. Bye."
Lois tossed her cell phone back in her purse and drained the rest of her wine. Well, Perry has his Superman exclusive, Lois thought, as she reflected on the abridged explanation of Superman's absence. Though knowing Polly, she'll turn it into a sob story about him losing his uncle and being some kind of refugee... Perry's not going to be happy about the pool coverage, though.
Her thoughts returned to her domestic situation and she looked up the stairs where Richard would soon reappear, demanding an explanation. Clark's no longer the last son of Krypton, she reminded herself. Jesus, did my life ever get complicated all of a sudden. Lois retrieved the bottle of Riesling from the refrigerator and poured herself another glass of wine, bringing both her glass and the bottle with her into the living room where she sat to wait for the inevitable confrontation.
* * *
Richard easily slipped into his familiar routine as he tucked Jason into bed. This time, he was barraged with a surprising number of questions about Superman before they finally began reading the bedtime stories. As they read the story together, Richard was almost able to forget that his life had been turned upside down just a couple hours earlier. He observed Jason's eyes grow heavy against the coming slumber, and when he finally fell asleep, Richard quietly let himself out of the room went downstairs for the long overdue discussion with Lois.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs he discovered Lois curled up in a living room chair sipping wine. He noticed the half-empty bottle of Riesling on the coffee table and as he sat down on the couch next to her chair, he harshly asked, "Trying to get drunk?"
"Did you really expect me to have this conversation sober?" Lois answered irritably.
"You wouldn't need the wine if you had come clean about this six years ago," Richard retorted. "If you hadn't lied to me about Jason's paternity."
"I didn't realize he was Clark's when I found out I was pregnant, and afterwards... well, we were already together and it didn't seem that important," Lois said irritably. "The last six years haven't been about him. In fact, I hardly even thought about Clark until he got back this week."
"And just what have you been thinking about him?" Richard asked accusingly. "You were originally planning to 'brief' him at his place, though he obviously didn't need the briefing."
"I didn't know my material was junk," Lois protested.
"He's been a step ahead of you on that story all week," Richard reminded her. "What were you really planning with him?"
Lois sighed and said quietly, "He had a right to know about Jason-"
"And I didn't?" Richard countered.
"Richard, it's not that simple-" she began.
"You should have told me," Richard interrupted angrily. "Instead, you tricked me into assuming responsibility."
"Now, hold it right there, White!" Lois snapped angrily, speaking in a loud whisper. "I never asked for the house or the ring! In fact, I specifically remember telling you that it wasn't necessary. You're the one who insisted on pressuring me into that arrangement."
"I never pressured you!"
"Oh, no? You bought this house, moved in, and decorated the nursery without my knowledge. And then you ambush me with it, begging me to accept your proposal and move in with you. You don't call that pressure?"
"I... I was just trying to do the right thing," Richard protested.
"You were trying to coerce me into your version of 'the right thing'," Lois corrected. She gestured to the room around them and added, "The point is, that you're the one who wanted all this, and you got what you wanted."
"You still should have told me the truth!" Richard insisted furiously.
"I already explained that I wasn't sure it was his when I was pregnant and what would it have mattered anyway?" Lois countered angrily. "Besides, you wouldn't have believed me if even I had told you. You'd come up with some rationalization for why I would say such a thing without ever considering that I might have really meant it. Just like you dismissed what I said when it came to naming Jason."
Richard flinched at the reference, which had been a persistent annoyance for him. Before Jason was born, they hadn't been able to agree on a name, with Lois completely unenthusiastic over his stated preference for naming the baby Richard Junior. He hadn't worried about it at the time, since he believed he'd have plenty of time to convince her before the baby came. However, she went into early labor before he got that chance. After she gave birth and caught up on some well-earned rest, Richard had filled out the paperwork for the baby, putting down the child's name as Richard Randolph White, Junior.
Unfortunately for him, it was hospital policy to confirm the information provided by boyfriends of unwed mothers before officially registering the paperwork with the Department of Health. When Lois saw the name he had put down, she went ballistic, ripping the form to shreds and kicking him out of the room. By the time he was allowed back in to see her, the baby's name had officially been registered as Jason Samuel Lane.
The incident had grated on Richard, who had always hoped to share his full name with a son when he began his family, and it infuriated him even further that Lois wouldn't even allow him to share his last name with their child. In the years since, he'd pestered her repeatedly to legally change their son's name and to at least make him a White, but she had stubbornly refused. Richard sighed as he recalled the matter and muttered unhappily, "Is this the real reason you didn't want him to be a junior?"
"That had nothing to do with Clark!" Lois shouted. "How many times had I told you that no child of mine would have a name that could be shortened to a synonym for part of the male anatomy? Did you remember that at all when you tried to sneak that name in after I gave birth? No. You didn't take me seriously, just like you don't take anything I say seriously if it doesn't fit nicely into your little fantasy vision of how you think things should be."
"Lois, I don't dismiss what you say like that," Richard protested irritably.
"Like hell you don't!" Lois yelled. "Just look at all the things we end up arguing about again and again and again. Because you keep nagging away at the same old things that I've said 'hell no' to dozens of times."
"Lois, I don't nag!"
"Do you have selective amnesia there?" Lois asked dramatically. She began ticking items off on her fingers, "Here's a little reminder, which I hope will be for the last time... I am not merging my finances with yours, giving you my power of attorney, or anything else that sacrifices my independence. We're not legally changing Jason's name, which Clark would also have to consent to, by the way. I'm not getting rid of the penthouse, which I've been subletting at a profit, and I'm not putting my name on the mortgage for this house, which I didn't get a say in choosing... And I'm also not giving up my career to become a stay-home mom, and I'm not having any more kids."
"You suddenly sound very determined to keep our lives segregated," Richard said bitterly.
"Suddenly?" Lois asked incredulously. "Jesus, did you not listen to what I just told you? I've been saying the same goddamn thing about all of this shit for the past five, six years, but it never occurred to you that I might actually have meant it. You assume that I said what I said because something's pissed me off or, as ludicrous as it sounds, that I'm 'afraid of change' and then you try to give me that stupid lecture on embracing it. Do you have any idea how aggravating that can be?"
"Well, I'm sorry I've made your life so miserable," Richard replied dramatically.
"Don't go putting words in my mouth, White," Lois scolded. "If we were really miserable, Jason and I would have left a long time ago. The good's outweighed the bad so far... But it's really a major drag when you go into control freak mode, or try imposing your fantasy on my reality. And by the way, that reality could very well include joint custody with Clark in the not too distant future."
"What?" Richard asked in outrage as the blood drained from his face. "He... he can't take Jason from us."
"Who said anything about taking? I said 'joint custody'," Lois reminded him. "That's a pretty standard arrangement for parents that aren't together anymore - he'd get him every other weekend, alternate major holidays, and maybe a night during the week every once in a while... I don't really know for sure. I haven't actually discussed it with him yet."
"Perry never should have hired him back," Richard commented quietly.
"Careful there, White. You're coming awfully close to violating your uncle's first law of journalism: 'The paper comes first', which is closely followed by 'leave the personal bullshit at home'. Besides, Perry's known all along that Jason was Clark's and it didn't make the slightest difference in his hiring decision."
"Perry knew?" Richard asked incredulously.
"He confronted me about it right after Jason was born, before I even got out of the hospital," Lois explained. "The point is, that given how often Clark's been on the front page since he's been back, nobody could reasonably argue that hiring him back wasn't in the best interest of the paper. So don't even think about trying to push him out."
"I wasn't suggesting that!" Richard objected.
"Better keep it that way," Lois warned.
"How come I'm suddenly the villain here?" Richard complained. "I'm the one who's been lied to for the past six years."
"I already explained that and I'm done talking about it!" Lois snapped. She turned on her heel, and marched out the patio doors, grabbing her purse from the coffee table on the way and pulling out her cigarettes and lighter.
Richard stared after her. Well, that went well, Richard thought sarcastically. How does she always end up turning these things around on me and making them my fault?
Richard was distracted from his ruminations by Jason's distressed voice behind him. "Daddy?" he said tearfully. "Why are you and Mommy yelling again? Is it because of me?"
"Oh, no, Jason, it's not because of you," Richard assured him soothingly, wrapping him in a tight hug and picking him up. "Mommy and I didn't mean to upset you and we're all done yelling." He began carrying the tyke back upstairs and suggested, "How about another story before you go back to sleep?"
As Richard carried Jason up the stairs, he noticed Lois out on the patio, looking in with a guilty expression on her face. She exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and turned away from the house. Richard rolled his eyes and wondered, Is she really that complicated, or have I really been that oblivious? Clark seems to have figured her out. Why can't I?
Friday, September 29, 2006 8:30AM EDT
Richard did his best to mask his displeasure as he walked into the Daily Planet building with his fiancée. They'd had an uneasy truce since the previous night's argument and an awkward silence had settled in between them. She was suddenly unfamiliar to him as he struggled to separate which of his perceptions of her were real and which were merely projections of his desires. It had consumed his thoughts through the sleepless night, spent alone in their bed while Lois slept on the living room couch.
He was having similar difficulty reconciling the newly revealed truth about Jason, though the little boy wasn't nearly as complicated as his mother. Richard still considered him his son and Jason had simply accepted that he now had two daddies: Daddy and Daddy Clark - Richard was still Daddy. But for how long? Richard wondered. The way things have been going with Lois... She had effectively vetoed nearly every aspiration he had for their relationship, stubbornly keeping their lives segregated for the most part. He was particularly bothered by her insistence that she wasn't having any more kids. It didn't reconcile well with his dreams of having a large family. Doesn't look like very much will end up the way I thought it would be, he thought.
The ding of the elevator announced their floor and the couple walked to their respective desks. Richard noticed the din of the bullpen suddenly diminished and felt his colleagues' eyes upon him. So the gossip has already started, he concluded. He kept his head down as he walked to his office, looking up only briefly as he passed Kent's desk, which was conveniently empty.
He was barely through the door of his office when Perry entered the room behind him. "Rough night?" his uncle asked gruffly.
"Whatever gives you that idea?" Richard asked sarcastically.
"Despite what people around here may think, I haven't lost my reporter's instincts," Perry answered. He sat down in Richard's guest chair, propping one foot against the desk as he continued, "We're going to need to put some new ground rules in place to keep your little situation here from getting out of hand."
"What situation would that be?" Richard inquired irritably.
"The one where you're living with Kent's ex-girlfriend and son," Perry explained. "Everyone needs to play nice in the office and we can't have any undue influence from management." At Richard's shocked expression, Perry explained, "Polly told me all about last night's shocker after she sent in the Superman interview - the one that your girlfriend was supposed to do."
"You already knew," Richard accused. "You knew, and you still hired him."
"Contrary to what you're suggesting, my first responsibility is to this paper, not your ego," Perry said harshly. "You've read our own paper this week, haven't you? Kent's one of the best in the business. I had a fiduciary responsibility to the Planet to make sure his byline didn't end up in the Star."
"But you knew," Richard persisted angrily.
"Richard, how many times did I ask you to get Jason's DNA tested? I even offered to pay for it myself," Perry reminded him. "If you had proof that he wasn't yours, you might actually have listened if someone told you he was Kent's. It's all ancient history now, though, and we still have a paper to run and for now at least, that'll mean Lois working with Kent."
"What?" Richard complained. "You can't! Uncle Perry!"
"Don't get your nose out of joint over it. The paper comes first," Perry said emphatically. "I strongly suggest you take a look in the archives at some of the stories those two wrote together before he left six years ago. It was some of the best work we've ever published... Richard, I am not going to be hamstrung by splitting up our best team just to pacify your insecurities, especially not when the Planet is facing such stiff competition. In fact, they'll probably end up assigned together permanently."
Richard angrily sank back in his chair. "Whose side are you on?" he demanded.
"The paper's... Richard, we leave the personal bullshit at home," Perry told him firmly. He softened his tone and gently said, "Son, I know this is rough on you, but there's simply no way around it. We'll talk about the situation over lunch, if you like. In the meantime, we still have jobs to do, so I'll explain the new ground rules and let you get to work."
Richard conceded his uncle's point and after a brief look out into the bullpen where Lois was studying her laptop screen, he reluctantly nodded his acquiescence, signaling his uncle to begin explaining the new rules.
* * *
Friday, September 29, 2006 9:10AM EDT
Lois absently scrolled through the results of her Nexus search on Lex Luthor. She already knew there was nothing recent there, but it hid her inactivity while she waited for Clark to show up. Clark Kent, she thought. Farm boy, extraordinaire. Her night had been as sleepless as Richard's, while she attempted to reconcile the previous evening's revelations with what she thought she knew of her mild-mannered colleague. The office dork that tripped over his own feet was also the superhero that bench pressed jumbo jets. And he's the father of my child, Lois reminded herself. Why couldn't he have explained everything to me after he rolled back time? And if I had known that Jason was his...
Jason. She'd spent much of the sleepless night wondering if her son would develop his father's abilities. Clark told me that most of his powers didn't come until after puberty, Lois recalled. What if that happens with Jason? It won't take much for Richard to put two and two together after that... And what if the neighbors notice something? If Clark thought the tabloids were bad before...
She pulled herself from her ruminations and looked over to the lobby just as the ding announced the elevator and the doors opened to reveal Clark standing there. He stepped off the elevator with his laptop in one hand and briefcase in the other, offering his usual goofy grin, and nodding his head in acknowledgment, his encumbered hands preventing him from waving. Lois observed him as he awkwardly made his way down the aisle, panicking some of their coworkers by his near misses as he stumbled by. Lois rolled her eyes and shook her head. I can't believe that I was I fooled by that.
He had just booted up his laptop when Lois finally approached and leaned against his desk, with her arms crossed over her chest. "You're late," she said sternly.
"Oh, I was, um, talking to Henderson about the Luthor case," he answered nervously.
"Did you get anything from him?" she demanded.
"Maybe," he answered enigmatically. "I won't know for a little while yet if it'll pan out, but I, um, have another 'source' that was able to peruse those sealed court records and that provided some interesting clues."
"Such as?"
"Well, Luthor was represented at his appeal by Forrester and Morrison, out of New York. Really high-priced criminal defense attorneys..."
"They've represented some of the InterGang big wigs, too. Not much of a surprise there..." Lois commented.
"...except who paid their fees," Clark informed her. "It was all billed to Gertrude Vanderworth."
"Vanderworth? The ship builders?"
"The same. Harold's eighty-seven year old widow, actually. Two weeks after Luthor got out of prison, he married her, and three months after that, she was conveniently dead and he had a new will that left him everything. The will was signed the day she died, with a couple of convicted felons as witnesses."
"And nobody thought that was suspicious?"
"The family might have, but the M.E.'s investigator declared it a natural death," Clark suggested. "The family's fighting the will in probate court. Their original is notarized and witnessed by a couple paralegals from their lawyer's office... There's also a bitter fight over her remains. Luthor wants her cremated..."
"...to destroy the evidence."
"Probably, but he hasn't succeeded yet," Clark told her. "The family lawyers have been throwing in every delaying tactic in the book to give them time to discredit the new will and win the right to bury her. In the meantime, she's been on ice in the morgue, by court order, until the dispute is resolved. The family's not thrilled with that either. They would have preferred burying her within twenty-four hours of her death."
"Something's fishy there," Lois concluded.
"No doubt. I spoke to Bill Henderson this morning and he's calling in the cops that were at the scene of death for me to talk to and after that, I'm going to try to talk to someone with the medical examiner's office downtown."
"I'm going with you," Lois declared. "And we'll also need to talk to the Vanderworths and maybe the D.A."
"We should probably add the warden of Stryker's Island to the list, too," Clark suggested. "Maybe there are some clues in the visitor lists. And don't forget, we still have the meeting with Faulkner at two o'clock."
"Hold on," Lois told him. She walked briskly back to her desk and returned with a notepad and pen, pulling her chair behind her. Once back at Clark's desk, she sat down and starting writing on her notepad. "Let's get our strategy mapped out here."
"Um, before we get started, I have a request from Henderson," Clark informed her.
"What does he want?"
"One, he wants us to be careful. Luthor is dangerous, even to Superman."
"No argument there."
"Second, we also need to be careful with any evidence we come across so that we don't give Luthor's lawyers an excuse to throw it out. Bill was adamant that everything had to be by the book. Luthor was slippery enough without the high-priced lawyers."
"Got it. Now let's get star-"
"Kent! Lane! My office, now!" Perry bellowed.
"What now?" Lois mumbled irritably. She reluctantly rose from her seat and headed to Perry office with Clark following closely behind her.
* * *
Perry had mixed feelings on the tableau he observed in the bullpen. Seeing Lois huddled over on a story with Kent probably meant that he'd soon have a blockbuster from them, just like the old days. However, he knew the same scene caused his nephew heartache and although he hadn't articulated it, he knew that Richard feared losing his fiancée to her old partner. The paper comes first, Perry reminded himself. And if their relationship isn't strong enough to weather the return of an ex after all these years, then it really was never meant to be. After another moment's hesitation, he stepped in the doorway of his office and called for them.
He leaned back in his chair while he waited for Lois and Clark to join him in his office. As expected, the complaint was off Lois' lips nearly as soon as she passed through the door. "Perry, we were in the middle of a something huge!" she told him irritably.
Perry threw the morning paper down in front of her and asked, "As huge as this story?" The headline read "Superman Explains Disappearance" by Polly Harper and included a quarter-page picture of Superman centered underneath it, standing with his arms akimbo on the roof of the Daily Planet with their signature art deco globe in the background. "That was supposed to be your story!" Though I have to admit, Harper did a pretty good job, he thought. And she took Olsen with her for the pictures, something that Lois would never even consider.
"He wouldn't talk to me!" Lois complained. "We're lucky he'd talk to Polly."
"What the hell did you say to him Lois?" Perry asked harshly. "Polly tells me he wants to set up a reporting pool for coverage."
"Polly's the one who interviewed him. Ask her about the pool coverage," Lois replied irritably.
Perry harrumphed and leaned back in his chair. After a moment, he continued, "Richard said that you two are investigating Lex Luthor. Didn't I tell you just yesterday that he was yesterday's news?"
"Not anymore he's not," Lois protested. "He married and murdered a wealthy widow, and nearly got away with it..."
"...but he, um, he left some clues behind," Clark added. "T-The woman's body is still on ice at the morgue, and, um, the Vanderworth family's fighting the new will-"
"Vanderworth?" Perry asked, his interest piqued. "As in shipping magnate Vanderworth?"
"Those are the guys," Lois confirmed. "Luthor's trying to swindle them out of their inheritance..."
"...and the estate's worth about twelve billion," Clark revealed.
"Later this morning, we're meeting with the cops who were present at the scene after Gertrude's death was called in, and then with the M.E. after that," Lois added.
"And we'll, um, try to speak with the Vanderworth family and the D.A. this afternoon," Clark continued.
Oh, this is good, Perry thought... Tragedy, sex and Superman, all rolled up into the same story. He was silent for a moment, struggling to suppress a smile from appearing on his face. Finally, he told them, "You've got two days to come up with something I can print..."
"Thanks, Chief," Lois replied.
"Just one more thing..."
"Yeah?" Lois asked.
Perry's voice turned serious and he sternly told them, "I don't want you two and Richard turning my bullpen into a facsimile of the Jerry Springer show with your little love triangle-"
"Chief!" Lois protested. "That's not what's-"
"Leave the personal bullshit at home!" Perry shouted.
"-happening," Lois continued.
"I don't care what you say is or isn't happening, just keep it out of my bullpen! Now, get out there, and get me that story!" Perry commanded. Lois rolled her eyes and huffed, storming out of the office.
"It won't be a problem, Chief," Clark assured him before he also left Perry's office and rejoined Lois for their investigation.
* * *
Friday, September 29, 2006 10:45AM EDT
Tom Wallace had been the director of investigations for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for four years, brought in with the new CME, Doctor Wilbur Fontaine, to help reform the institution. He was rightly proud of the improvements they'd introduced in a relatively short period of time. M.E. response to a reported death had dropped from an average of fourteen hours to less than an hour, and the expertise and credibility of their medico-legal investigator corps had been sustained in the courts and, even more incredibly, they had won the respect of Metropolis' finest, which wasn't readily given.
However, on this morning, he was disconcerted by an enigmatic call from a reporter, suggesting an investigator's collaboration with the decedent's new husband to conceal a homicide. Normally, he would have dismissed the call and sworn to the integrity of his investigator. However, Kent had pointed out a couple of oddities with the case that raised some red flags and Bill Henderson had vouched for him. After a discussion with Doctor Fontaine, he'd called the reporter back and agreed to meet with him and his partner. His phone rang, interrupting his ruminations, and he quickly answered it. "Wallace," he said. It was the receptionist, informing him of the reporters' arrival. "Okay, I'll be right down."
A few minutes later, both reporters were seated in his office. "So, you had questions on the Vanderworth case," Tom began. He turned to the side and pulled up the case on his PC.
"That's right, Doctor Wallace," Lois replied.
"It's Tom. I'm not an M.D.," Tom explained. "I'm a physician's assistant, like the rest of our investigator corps. Now, the Vanderworth case?"
"Well, um, a few things seemed a little strange when we looked into it," Clark told him.
"And you're challenging the conclusions of our investigator," Tom finished for him.
"Well, some things seemed a little off, not the least of which is your investigator's sudden disappearance shortly after Gertrude's death certificate was filed," Lois answered as she reviewed her notes. "Heidi Fineman, was it?"
"Yes, that was her," Tom confirmed.
"We spoke to the police officers who were at the scene and they said that she was extremely jittery, which was unusual since it was an almost pristine scene of death," Lois informed him. "She had barely walked in the room before declaring it a natural death and couldn't get out of there fast enough."
"They also said that they'd seen her a few days before at a gruesome death in Suicide Slum and she was steady as a rock," Clark added.
"Well, yes, the circumstances are unusual," Tom agreed. "Though, aside from concerns for Heidi's welfare, that's not a big consideration. However, the cause of death raises a huge red flag. It's recorded as CPA - that's cardiopulmonary arrest. Heidi would never have written that down for any death. It's not a cause, but rather a result of the cause. It's a novice mistake that an intern from one of the hospitals might make, but not one that we'd make. Not even from a trainee. And when the hospitals do it, we send the death certificate right back to them for correction."
"I don't understand. What's the problem with... 'CPA' was it?" Lois asked.
"What stopped her heart?" Tom asked rhetorically. "Stroke? Heart attack? Epileptic seizure? Those things are causes of death and cardiopulmonary arrest is just a consequence of that. It's not the cause. In any case, the fact that CPA was recorded as the C.O.D. by an experienced investigator like Heidi is odd, to say the least."
"Maybe she knew of something that she couldn't talk about and was trying to leave us a clue, in case something happened," Clark suggested.
"Maybe," Tom conceded.
"Well, that's not the only thing about this case that's suspicious," Lois stated passionately. "Did you know that after Gertrude's death, her new husband filed a will that left him everything, allegedly signed the day of her death? He married this woman, thirty-eight years his senior, at the beginning of summer, right after he got out of prison. Three months later, she's dead and he inherits everything. Oh, and he was the only witness to her death. Quite convenient."
"He was the only witness?" Tom asked with interest. "An unattended death is automatically suspicious. We usually have a better safe than sorry policy under such circumstances and send the body in for an autopsy."
"Unattended death?" Lois inquired, her brow wrinkling in confusion.
"There wasn't a physician in attendance at the time of death," Tom explained. "As you said, her husband was the only witness."
"Something else the police told us stinks to high heaven," Lois added. "Apparently, he dropped his wedding ring in a whiskey glass next to her bed and high-tailed it out of there with his mistress immediately after his beloved wife passed away," Lois added. "Does that still sound like a natural death to you?"
"Technically, Kowalski was the maid," Clark clarified. "But Officer Muncie said family members thought they were spending suspicious amounts of time together."
Tom wrote a couple lines of text on a notepad and asked, "Am I correct in assuming that Patrick Muncie was the officer at the scene?"
"Um, yes, along with Vince Reynolds," Clark confirmed.
"I'm going to need to talk to them. All of this is highly unusual," Tom commented. "Unfortunately, Heidi isn't around to answer any questions." He sighed tiredly, pulling off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. A moment later, he declared, "I'm going to re-open this case for a complete reassessment. The C.O.D. alone warrants that and if the other things you've told me are true-"
"You don't trust us?" Lois asked dramatically.
"It's not a question of trust," Tom assured them. "We try to base our work on verifiable methods, rather than subjective opinions, though some of that is unavoidable. As I said, there is already enough that's verifiably unusual to merit reopening the case, specifically, the C.O.D. If I'm unable to resolve the matter to my satisfaction, I'll recommend an autopsy."
"Better do it soon, before her grieving husband wins his court case to have the body cremated," Lois commented.
"The body's already here, by court order while they fight it out, and it's not going anywhere until our review is done," Tom assured him. "I'll send a note to the judge to let her know what's going on."
"Do things like this happen often around here?" Lois asked.
"No, this is an aberration," Tom answered. "I'm not going to pretend that we don't make the occasional mistake, but our goal here isn't perfection. It's perfect honesty. When we do make a mistake, we own up to it, try to fix it, and we try not to make the same mistake twice. And if we find that there are flaws in our methods that allowed a mistake to happen, then we'll make procedural changes to prevent it from happening again in the future."
"We appreciate your candor," Clark told him. "Sounds like you have a very conscientious organization here."
"We do, but if you really want to understand how the process is supposed to work around here, you should spend a few hours with one of our investigators," Tom suggested.
"I'll take a rain check on that," Lois said quickly.
"Maybe after we've finished with the Vanderworth matter," Clark added. "It sounds like it could be an interesting experience."
"Oh, it is," Tom assured him enthusiastically. "However, it can be unsettling for some people to see human remains in the states that we find them in." He was silent for a moment and then asked seriously, "Are you going to give me time to reassess this case before you go to press?"
"Depends on how long it takes, but we probably won't publish this before Sunday," Lois told him. "Given Luthor's legal resources and our legal department's paranoia, we're going to have to work a little harder to make sure that all of our information is rock solid before we go to press."
"We should have the review finished by then, if all goes well," Tom told them. "Now, if there aren't any more questions, it looks like I have quite a bit of work ahead of me."
"Thank you for your time," Clark told him, rising from his chair and extending his hand.
"Thank you," Lois echoed politely and their host escorted them back out to the first floor lobby.
* * *
Once they left the medical examiner's building, Lois turned to Clark and asked, "So how do you think he killed Gertrude? Some kind of poison? Arsenic, maybe?"
"That's not very original for someone with such a superiority complex," Clark commented. "However he killed her, it's clear that he and his men blackmailed or extorted Heidi Fineman into recording it as a natural death. Perhaps they kidnapped her daughter, since she's missing, too. And once they had the death certificate they needed, they got rid of them both."
Lois felt her body unconsciously shudder at the idea. "The kid was just nine," Lois reminded him.
"Not much older than Kara and Jason," Clark confirmed. "Luthor's a monster."
"That's an understatement," Lois agreed. She looked at her watch and said, "Well, our next appointment is with Harold Junior at one, which gives us almost two hours to kill. If you want, I can pull Jason out of school and you can take that closer look you wanted. Believe me, I want to know what to expect there as much as you do. But, we'll still need to get him lunch and have him back to school before our one o'clock."
"That shouldn't be a problem, but I'll have to swing by the farm for the father crystal first," Clark told her.
"Father crystal?"
"It's kind of the brain of the crystal computer at the Fortress," Clark explained. "I took it with me when I went to get Kara and never got around to returning it to the Fortress when we got back."
"Whatever," Lois muttered. "How long will that take?"
"Just a few minutes, usually," he told her. "But if Mom spots me, she'll want to chat for a little bit... She also wants to meet her grandson, by the way."
"So... did you tell her about Jason or did Kara blurt it out?" Lois teased.
"Lois, Kara really felt bad about spilling the beans like that last night," Clark told her. "Anyway, um, I'm the one who broke the news to her. Once Kara was asleep, I got quite the lecture about putting the cart before the horse."
Lois snorted and repeated mirthfully, "Putting the cart before the horse?"
"Well, yeah. And it's not funny," Clark protested. "She was very upset with me."
"Oh, the big hero, cowed by a silvered-haired old lady's tongue lashing," Lois teased, giggling at his discomfort as they walked to her car. A few minutes later, she reigned in her laughter and told him, "Do you know where Donner Elementary is?"
"Corner of Reeves Avenue and Kidder Lane in North Bridge," Clark answered. "Superman put out a fire there in May of ninety-eight."
"Do you always talk about yourself in third person?" Lois asked.
"Easier to keep track of things that way and less risky if somebody's listening in," Clark explained.
Lois rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever. Anyway, go get your crystal thingy, or whatever it is, meet me at the school, and we'll take Jason to your Fortress for his examination." Clark rewarded her with a wide, goofy grin and disappeared in a flash on his way to Smallville, leaving Lois rolling her eyes. What a dork, Lois thought. Make that 'Super-dork' - I almost forget he was Superman for a moment there... Geez, working with him all morning seemed so... so normal. She chuckled quietly to herself and climbed in her Audi for the short trip to Jason's school.
Friday, September 29, 2006 11:15AM EDT
Richard grew continually more irritable all morning as the lingering memory of the previous night's shocking revelation and the argument with Lois that followed took over his thoughts. The knowledge that his fiancée was currently out with her former lover, supposedly working on a story, worsened his mood even more. He was also aggravated by Perry's new rules, which prevented him from talking to anyone about Lois or Clark's assignments. He'd been short tempered with his staff all morning and his lingering personal worries made it impossible for him to fully concentrate on the breaking news from the Middle East.
His distraction had not escaped Perry's attention and after a couple of choice comments from the veteran newsman failed to jar him from his preoccupation, he decided that a longer discussion would be required to get his nephew straightened out. Once Perry was confident that the day's stories were on track under George Taylor's direction, he dragged Richard out of the office for an early lunch.
A short time later, the two men were seated at a comfortable table in the back corner at Adrian's Ristorante, perusing the menu. They finally gave the waiter their order and once he had departed, Perry gruffly told his nephew, "Well, you've obviously been thinking about it all morning, so out with it. You're getting this off your chest."
"There's not much to say," Richard protested. He kept his head down, studying the pattern in the tablecloth as he added, "I believed her. I trusted her. I was wrong and now she's running around town with her ex."
"With her partner," Perry corrected. "You know they're working a story."
"There was no story there!" Richard protested. "Lois even complained about it last night."
"Richard, you of all people should know that it takes more than a Nexus search to research a story," Perry admonished him. "They've sniffed out something astounding that will probably have the papers flying off the shelves in a day or two."
"Am I supposed to be happy that she's out there with him?" Richard complained.
Perry harrumphed and asked sarcastically, "Are you just going to pout about that all day? Give a solid twenty, thirty percent at the office?"
Richard looked up in surprise at his uncle's comment. "Uncle Perry, I'm not-" he began to argue.
"Yes, you are," Perry interrupted authoritatively. "Now, talk. What's the problem here, other than the obvious?"
Richard sighed and was silent for a moment before he quietly said, "I don't even recognize her these past few days. She's different. Angry. Argumentative. Aggressive. Competitive. She's-"
"She's Mad Dog Lane," Perry finished for him. "That's our old Lois - the real Lois that we thought we'd lost."
"Well, it's not someone that I've ever seen before," Richard complained.
Perry took a sip from his water glass and was silent in thought for a moment while he reflected on Lois' transformation. Finally, he quietly said, "Richard, she wasn't herself when you first met her. I don't know if it was because Superman was missing and presumed dead, or because Kent took off like he did, or if it was the hormones, but she was a shadow of her former self. She was as distraught as I've ever known her to be and the fire that drove her was gone. She was... I don't know, lost?
"Then you came along and I think you helped her pull herself together enough to be functional again. But she was still on autopilot most of the time - she didn't have the fight in her any more. Oh, she was still one of our best reporters, but not the 'Mad Dog Lane' that we remembered. At least, not until a few days ago."
"When Kent came back," Richard spat.
"Superman's back now, too," Perry reminded him.
"Well, she doesn't seem very interested in that," Richard observed irritably. "I suspect it was probably more her doing than his that Polly got that story. Probably so she could work with Kent."
"Well, I might have a problem with that because I told her to do the Superman story, but why's that a problem for you?" Perry inquired. "Richard, some of her best work was in collaboration with Kent back in the day and teaming up with him again is a good career move for her. Besides, what happened between them happened a long time ago - before you even met her. And her behavior since he's been back has hardly been suspicious - she's been an absolute bitch to him, almost enough to merit a reprimand. As for Kent, he's one of the biggest prudes I've ever met. No way anything untoward is going to happen, even if Lois was willing, which she clearly isn't... So, do you want to tell me why this really has you so shook up?"
Richard was silent, his brow wrinkled pensively and he opened and closed his mouth several times as he gathered his thoughts. Finally, he admitted, "It's like I don't even know her, Uncle Perry. Almost six years together and I don't know her any better than the day we met. Actually, I wonder if I know her at all... And although she's always been a mystery to me, Clark can read her like a book." Richard fell silent again and looked away, eyes unfocused as he considered the situation.
"Keep going," Perry encouraged him gently.
Richard sighed in frustration and added, "Well, for one thing, I thought that Lois and her dad would never voluntarily start a conversation with each other, no matter what. But Clark knew better. Just one look at her and he knew that she'd talked to her father about the EMP. And once they started talking, they were finishing each other's sentences! They were doing that again last night before Kara let the cat out of the bag about Jason. Clark had no contact with her for six years, but the moment he gets back, he seems to know her better than I do."
"He was her best friend and knew her better than anyone," Perry revealed. "From his perspective, she hasn't changed."
"Well, she sure as hell has changed from my perspective!" Richard hissed. "And then to find out that Jason is his! If that wasn't bad enough, last night she summarily rejected just about everything I've been trying to make happen in our relationship. She said that she's been saying 'hell no' to all of it for years, but I wasn't listening."
"You weren't," Perry declared.
"Jesus, have I really been that oblivious?" Richard complained.
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Perry replied.
Richard rolled his eyes, but held his tongue when the server returned with their salads, grateful for the reprieve. Richard bit into a forkful of salad and after swallowing, he muttered sadly, "None of this seems very fair."
"C'est la vie," Perry said simply, and he also dug into his salad.
The two men continued their discussion as they ate their salads and Richard eventually shared the details of his argument with Lois the previous night and their perpetual disagreements. Perry ended up shaking his head in disbelief. "Richard, Lois is one of the most driven career women I've ever known, even when she seemed to be running on auto-pilot," he declared authoritatively. "You didn't really think she was going to give it all up and stay home with the kiddies, did you?" Richard's checks flushed red and he looked away to hide the blush. Perry added incredulously, "Jesus, you really have had your head buried in the sand."
"Apparently," Richard said grumpily. "Oh, and by the way, there aren't going to be any more 'kiddies'. She made it perfectly clear last night that she had no intention of ever having any more kids. Jason will be her only one."
"And that bothers you."
Richard sighed irritably and said, "I wanted a bigger family. It's just one more thing that's not going to be the way I thought it would be."
"Well, have you got your head out of the sand now?" Perry asked.
"I think it would impossible not to, given recent events," Richard said quietly.
"Really?" Perry replied skeptically. "Then prove it. Look at everything you've just described to me. You're allegedly a journalist... Read the clues. Tell me what it reveals about Lois' frame of mind."
Richard looked over at his uncle with an irritated expression and glared at him for a moment. He then relaxed his expression at declared, "She doesn't like changing the status quo."
Perry snorted and said, "Try again."
"She's resistant to change?"
Perry just shook his head and muttered, "So much for having pulled your head out of the sand."
"What?" Richard complained.
Perry was silent for a moment and then gently told him, "Polly was right... You've been seeing what you wanted to see, and what you saw was 'happily ever after'. You never allowed yourself to notice that Lois saw things differently. Richard, the truth of the matter is that she never believed that your relationship would last and she's planned for things accordingly."
"That's bullshit, Uncle Perry," Richard argued. "We've been happy."
"Ignorant bliss on your part," Perry countered. "Look at what you just told me. She insists on keeping her finances and property strictly segregated and not only does she insist on keeping the penthouse, she won't sublet it for more than a monthly term. That's not maintaining the status quo or being resistant to change - that's an escape plan. When she decides it's time to go, all she has to do is to pack up Jason and their things and move back into the penthouse. You don't even get to fight with her over Jason, because you're not his legal father."
"Now I know you're wrong!" Richard declared triumphantly. "I am Jason's legal father. I filled out the paperwork myself after he was born."
"Was that the same paperwork Lois ripped to shreds when she saw that you'd tried to name the kid Ricky Junior?"
The blood drained from Richard face. "Uncle Perry, she... she wouldn't. She'd never take him from me like that."
"Well, no, not like that," Perry conceded. "She's not that cold-hearted, even at her worst. But I know for a fact that when she redid Jason's paperwork, she left the father's name blank... I don't know if things are bad enough between the two of you for her to leave yet, but no matter what happens, she holds all the cards."
"You know, if you're trying to cheer me up, you're doing a lousy job," Richard commented sadly.
"Who said anything about cheering you up?" Perry asked dramatically. "I'm just trying to help you pull your head out of your ass so I can get some work out of you."
"Oh, thanks for that clarification," Richard replied sarcastically. "It makes me feel so much better."
"Hey, that's what family's for," Perry replied mirthfully.
Richard was stopped from replying to Perry's statement by their server returning with their entrées. He gestured to the server and said, "Looks like the food's here." Perry granted him the reprieve and an awkward silence descended around them as they dug into their meals.
Richard picked at his meal as he considered what Perry had said to him and again replayed his interactions with Lois over the past week, along with those he had observed between the her and Clark. Finally, Richard broke the silence with a sigh and morosely commented, "It sure didn't take Clark long to ruin my life."
"He had nothing to do with this," Perry said curtly. "Oh, I'll concede that he's the catalyst that's forced you to face the truth now. But the problems between you and Lois have been there all along and would have eventually come to the surface whether Kent came back or not. You just never saw it - you didn't want to."
"I don't want to lose her," Richard said quietly.
"Well, you'll have a better chance at keeping her if you can pull your head out of the sand and face reality," Perry declared. "Think about it, Richard... You may have been oblivious, but she wasn't. She knew that you'd created a fantasy version of your relationship which would eventually disintegrate and there was no way she going to commit to that. Maybe that was part of the reason she refused to set a date... Maybe if she sees that you're finally seeing the reality of your relationship, you'll have a slim chance to find something solid to build a relationship on."
"Do you think that Lois and I can work this out?" Richard asked hopefully.
"Son, this is one of those rare times where my opinion doesn't count," Perry told him. "It's entirely up to you and Lois. You have a chance - just be careful not to set yourself up with unrealistic expectations again, because there are no guarantees. In fact, once you take an objective look at the real Lois Lane, you might be the one who wants out."
"I find that hard to believe," Richard said somberly. After a moment, he asked quietly, "What if we can't find any common ground?"
"Then you move on," Perry declared. "Live and learn. And next time, try to keep your eyes open."
"Easy for you to say," Richard commented.
"Richard, you're obviously still in shock over all this and you're going to need time to absorb it all and to think things through - time without Lois around, preferably," Perry informed him. "Get out of the house. Maybe visit your folks in Chicago for the weekend. The time away might help put everything in perspective."
"I think I'd worry that she'd be gone when I got back," Richard admitted.
"Well, if that's a real possibility, then it's already too late and you might as well just throw in the towel and be done with it," Perry told him. "Besides, you're not going to accomplish anything by hovering over her. You'll just end up pissing her off. It'd be far better for you to get out of each others' hair for a few days. Maybe then you'd both manage to clear your heads and be able to think clearly about the situation."
Richard sighed and said irritably, "I'll think about it."
"Well, whatever you do, you had better have it out of your system by the time you show up for work Monday morning," Perry declared. "I can't have you shouting at the staff like you were this morning." Perry smiled mischievously and whispered conspiratorially, "That's my job."
"Sorry."
"Don't be sorry, just figure out how to pull your head out of your ass and leave the personal bullshit at home," Perry demanded. He paused for a moment and added gently, "Well, since I'm obviously not going to get any work out of you this afternoon, go ahead and get an early start on the weekend. Just be sure you're ready to get to work when you show up Monday morning."
"I'll try. Thanks, Uncle Perry." Richard told him sincerely. "And I'm sorry for the trouble."
Perry waived off the apology as he signaled for the waiter. "Don't worry about it," he said casually. "Well, I've got to get back to the office and you have some serious soul searching to do. Please try to make good use of the time."
* * *
After lunch, Richard took a walk through Centennial Park to try to clear his mind. It was a warm fall day and he shared the park with many other denizens of Metropolis that afternoon. The crowd included mothers with young children, retirees strolling or lounging on the park benches, and a handful of college age couples engaged in amorous displays, oblivious to the attention that they were generating. Richard ignored them all and continued down the path with his head down. Who is the real Lois Lane? he wondered. Is it the woman I thought I knew, or this person that Uncle Perry raves about and who seems so angry at everyone? Or is there something else here that I don't see?
Lois' declarations from the night before were also troubling for him and stymied the plans he had for their life together. No more kids, he recalled. Jason was his son in every way that mattered and he adored the little boy, but something primal inside of him wanted a child that was biologically his - something that didn't seem to be in the cards with Lois. Could she still be talked into another baby? Richard wondered. Or would I just be proving her point that I don't listen when she says 'Hell no'?
He imagined how their future would be, with no children except Jason and living a life together that was mostly segregated. We'd be more like roommates than a married couple, assuming that we ever actually make it to the altar... He had to acknowledge his uncle's point that Lois didn't seem to consider their relationship as her 'happily ever after', which made her assertion that she'd been pressured into accepting the house and ring all the more disturbing. Sometimes I hate it when he's right, Richard thought. Is he right about Clark, too?
By all accounts, Lois had made no attempt to contact the shy man after he left and her anger with him was unmistakable. However, there was still chemistry between the two of them that was impossible to miss. They were completely in sync with each other to the point that they were able to complete each others' sentences. He also recalled that despite her obvious anger with Clark, she hadn't been able to take her eyes off him during their dinner in the conference room the previous night. Was their previous romantic involvement really just a fling, or was there more to it than that? Richard wondered. Had she been in love with him? Was she still in love with him, but too stubborn to admit it?
Richard sat down on an empty park bench and dropped his head into his palms as he continued his contemplation. Lois and I really need to talk, he decided. No arguing this time, but a good, honest talk to find out what each of us really wants from our relationship and where we stand with each other. Hopefully, this hasn't completely been an illusion and there will still be enough there for a future together.
Friday, September 29, 2006 11:15AM EDT
Lois was in an unusually contemplative mood as Superman brought them north to his Fortress. It was their first real flight together since the truth came out - she wasn't counting the return trip the previous evening. She'd barely been able to think straight after Kara showed up, floating in front of them like that. As she observed the man now, she didn't see the other-worldly hero. She saw Clark Kent and clearly recognized the distinct mannerisms that defined him. She thought back on all her previous interactions with the hero and realized that the clues had always been there for her to see if she had bothered to look. Who else but Clark would have quoted travel safety statistics at the first rescue like that, Lois thought. That should have tipped me off right there...
She struggled to reconcile the contradictions in the man as they zoomed through the sky. The god-like being in a cape who was the Earth's guardian and greatest hero was also a farm boy from Kansas, holding down an ordinary job, paying his taxes and living an ordinary life that now included the new responsibilities as a single father to a young girl. And he's also the father of my child, Lois thought. Her gaze fell to their son, held tightly against his father's chest, facing away from him and holding out his arms as he pretended that he was the one doing the flying.
Lois was pulled from her ruminations by the sound of Superman's voice as he spoke to their son. "We need to bank to the right now. Are you ready, Jason?" he asked enthusiastically.
"Uh-huh!" Jason answered eagerly. He shifted his weight, leaning to the right and Superman made the gradual turn in sync with his son's movements. Jason was smiling widely and declared eagerly, "This is so cool!"
Lois couldn't suppress her smile at Jason's contagious excitement and she ducked her head against her former lover to hide it. We'll, looks like Clark's winning Jason over, she thought.
She felt the vibration of Superman's laugh tickle her cheek and peeked up to observe him looking down at Jason. "You really think so?" he teased. "Are you sure you're not bored by all this flying nonsense?" Jason shook his head vigorously while trying to keep his arms stretched out in good flying form. Superman laughed again and said mirthfully, "Well, if you're sure."
He's good with kids, Lois observed. And I bet he'll turn out to be a pretty good father. Maybe even as good as Richard's been. Oh, God... Richard. She felt the guilt wash over her as she recalled their argument from the previous evening and how they'd carefully avoided each other that morning. This is tearing him apart and he deserves so much better, she thought. But what can I do about it now?
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed their approach to the Fortress until they began the descent through the roof. She looked up at their surroundings and was startled when Superman suddenly tensed up and his jovial demeanor transformed into a grim countenance. She was also surprised to discover that the chamber was cold, dark and lifeless, rather than warm palatial manor that she had expected. Superman gently set them down and walked stiffly over to a console of some sort that was twenty feet in front of them. Something's wrong, Lois realized. "Clark?" she said tentatively.
"We've had some uninvited guests," he informed her gravely. "They've taken all of the crystals."
"It's cold here," Jason complained.
Superman's head snapped up and he turned to his guests, gently bathing them in his heat vision. A moment later, he turned his vision to the crystal walls, roasting them with his gaze and endued them with enough heat to radiate the room with warmth and chase away the cold. "Sorry about that," he apologized. "That should keep the place warm until I can get everything back on-line."
"Thanks. What's this about crystals?" Lois asked.
"They held the sum knowledge of Krypton, including that of every major civilization spanning twenty-eight galaxies."
Lois silently nodded her head and grasped her son's hand a little tighter, keeping him close to her as she followed Superman to the console. She watched him remove the father crystal from his cape's secret pocket and insert it in the slot at the top of the console. Jor-El's image immediately appeared in the face of the crystal wall opposite him. "Kal-El, my son. Why have the crystals been removed from the matrix?" he asked.
"They were taken by an unknown party while I was away," Superman explained. "Can they be regenerated?"
"Of course," Jor-El assured him. "However it will take approximately ninety minutes to complete, given that current power reserves are at a dangerously low level. We do not even have sufficient power to maintain the usual hologram right now."
"Any idea who might have taken your crystals?" Lois asked apprehensively.
"So you've brought the woman back with you," Jor-El observed. "Shall I expect the old quarrel again as well?"
"What quarrel? Clark?"
"It's a long story - I'll tell you about it later," Superman replied. "As for the robbery - whoever it was left their fingerprints behind. Henderson should be able to help me positively identify them, though I have a pretty short list of likely suspects. There's only been one person who's ever found the Fortress, though it was during those lost eight days before the space-time fold. The second time around, I intercepted him near Ottawa, the day after he escaped from prison."
"Lex Luthor," Lois declared. Superman nodded to confirm her guess. Jesus, the damage that monster could do with Kryptonian technology, Lois thought.
"Is this the same Lex Luthor who collaborated with General Zod?" Jor-El asked.
"Yes, that's the one," Clark told him.
"He broke in here before and you didn't do anything about the lax security?" Lois asked incredulously.
"I, um, thought I did," Superman admitted sheepishly. "We programmed the Fortress to control the local weather after that, and there was a perpetual blizzard around the place to discourage visitors. Besides, Luthor was in prison."
"But he had already escaped once before, remember?" Lois reminded him. "And that blizzard wouldn't stop him if he figured out it was here and was determined to raid the place, which is apparently what happened. Which leads to my next question: How, exactly, did he figure out that this place was here? It's in the middle of nowhere. Not exactly someplace that you'd stumble across accidentally."
"I haven't a clue," Superman confessed. "I thought this was too remote for anyone to stumble across."
Lois rolled her eyes and declared, "You're going to need some serious upgrades to the security here... Clark, this isn't Smallville - you can't just leave everything wide open."
"The woman has a valid point," Jor-El agreed. "Unfortunately, we lack sufficient energy to seal the openings. Kal-El, perhaps the personal affects this criminal had with him when you intercepted him would reveal his methods. Please describe what you found."
* * *
Jason watched wide-eyed at the magic man in the wall who was talking to his parents. He understood that somebody had taken Superman's stuff and they were really upset about that. After a few minutes of hearing the adults argue, he was bored and wanted to explore the castle. However, his mother wouldn't release her grip on his hand. "Jason, sit still," she scolded him. He reluctantly complied and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of his mother and listened to his mommy and Daddy Clark talk with the magic man.
"Well, he was traveling with his girlfriend, Eve Teschmacher," Superman told Jor-El.
"Late girlfriend," Lois corrected. "She died in prison under suspicious circumstances. It wouldn't surprise me if Luthor arranged for that."
"Oh... Well, anyway, the balloon that they were traveling in came down just outside Ottawa. I had scanned their possessions when I approached and besides basic provisions such as food and clothing, all they had was a short wave radio, a propane heater, and some home-made electronic device that was built from a shoebox and some rather worn parts. He smashed the box once I made my presence known."
"And that didn't strike you as suspicious?" Lois asked incredulously.
"I thought it was out of anger or frustration. He was throwing quite the tantrum," Superman clarified. "Besides, it clearly wasn't explosive and there was no sign of kryptonite. I assumed it was some sort of navigational equipment."
"Did you get a close enough look at the device to recreate its design?" Jor-El inquired.
"I think so," Kal-El confirmed. He turned back to the console as a flat rectangular panel rose and tipped back to a slight incline. Superman squeezed his eyes closed and his brow momentarily wrinkled in concentration. Once he opened his eyes, he pulled a stylus from the side of the panel and quickly began writing on the surface.
While Superman documented the device he remembered, Jason was growing tired of sitting still on the floor. He stood up, eyeing the doorways for possible exploration routes. Lois noticed his movement and grabbed his arm just as he was about to run off to the nearest walkway. "I asked you to sit still," she reminded him.
"But, it's boring," Jason whined.
"Well, you're just going to have to be patient for a little while longer," Lois insisted. "A bad man robbed your Daddy Clark, and we need to figure out a few things about that."
Lois' words immediately provoked a surprised reaction from Jor-El and his gaze turned sharply to Jason. A blue light suddenly flickered through the Fortress, coalescing into an aura around the tyke as a razor-thin line of bright light quickly descended from head to toe.
"Hey!" Lois complained. "What the hell are you doing?"
"There's no need for concern, madam. The scan was harmless," Jor-El told her gently. "What is this boy's name?"
"Jason," Lois told him apprehensively. "He's our son."
"Yes, I can see that now," Jor-El told her. He then turned to the little boy and replied majestically, "Welcome, Jason. I am Jor-El... I am your grandfather... This... Fortress of Solitude... is all that remains of your Kryptonian heritage - the once great civilization of the planet, Krypton. You are heir to a proud legacy and it is my hope that in the coming years we'll have the opportunity to get to know each other as I teach you our culture and heritage, just as I did with your father before you."
"You're my grandpa?" Jason asked incredulously. "Do you live in the wall?"
Jor-El smiled kindly at Jason and said, "Yes, I am your grandfather. That surprises me as well. I never believed that this would be possible... As for the image you see before you - this isn't really me and I don't live in the wall. I died thousands of years ago when our planet, Krypton, was destroyed. What you see before you is a recreation of who I was, based on my memories and personality, which were copied into the crystals moments before I died."
"You're a ghost?" Jason said excitedly. "Cool!"
"Jason, he's not really a ghost," Superman tried to explain. "It's like a computer program."
"Oh," Jason replied unhappily.
"We can try to explain it to him later," Lois suggested.
Jor-El turned his gaze to Superman and said quietly, "Kal-El, my son... I tried to anticipate every possible circumstance when I prepared the crystals for your journey to Earth. But you've now presented me with the one scenario that I did not anticipate - you've brought me a grandson... Please understand that when I was researching Earth as a potential home for you, I relied on the work of our xenobiologists, all of whom had concluded that the human genome was not compatible with our own. They declared that the physical resemblance was a merely a coincidental result of convergent evolution. My faith in their judgment influenced the guidance I offered you and your intended bride when you first brought her here. Given the obvious inaccuracy of their genetic analysis, that guidance was ill-advised. I believe I owe you both an apology."
* * *
Jor-El's words had pushed Lois beyond the limits of her patience and curiosity, and she had demanded an immediate explanation of what had truly happened during their previous visit. Superman reluctantly complied, editing his narration to accommodate their young son's presence, though Lois was easily able to fill in the blanks. She was astonished by Jor-El's ultimatum, and that Superman would have so quickly agreed to it. As the truth sank in, she simply stared at Superman wide-eyed, with her mouth agape.
"Lois?" Superman gently prodded.
She shook herself from her stupor and turned to Jor-El, furiously asking him, "You stripped him of his powers? What was that, some kind of punishment for deigning to be with a lowly human?"
"Lois, I volunteered," Superman assured her calmly. "I chose you over the powers. It wasn't a difficult decision."
"By why did you have to choose?" Lois demanded to know. "Couldn't you have found some way to balance a life together with the powers?"
"It would have been a moot point," Clark replied sadly. "I still would have had to leave to get Kara a couple weeks later."
"Was your mission successful?" Jor-El interrupted. "She is obviously not with you."
"She's in school," Lois informed him curtly before returning her attention to Superman. "Clark, it's the principle of the thing. Cops balance duty with family. So do fireman, ambulance drivers, doctors, soldiers... Well, with the possible exception of my father... Why couldn't you have done the same?"
"The requirement was necessary for his psychological well-being," Jor-El declared.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Lois complained angrily.
"To understand the necessity, you need to understand the nature of the Kryptonian marriage bond," Jor-El explained. "It's not just emotional, as it is with humans. There is also a psychic dependency involved."
"Psychic? You mean like reading each other's minds?" Lois asked incredulously.
"No, the bond is empathic, not telepathic," Jor-El clarified. "The love the two individuals feel for each other is amplified through that empathic bond. They sense each other's emotions - even each other's presence in many cases - and they become dependent on their shared bond. It is incorruptible in life and if it is severed by the death of one of the parties, the grief is inconsolable."
"That doesn't explain why you wanted to strip him of his powers," Lois insisted, and she asked sarcastically, "Was a lowly human too unworthy to be bound so closely with a Kryptonian?"
"My concern was the difference in life expectancies," Jor-El informed her. "Humans rarely live even a single century, but Kal-El doesn't age as you do. Barring some unforeseen tragedy, he could expect a lifespan measured in millennia. However, the medical technology contained within the crystals would only have extended your lifespan by several centuries, which means he would have spent most of his long life in agony, mourning your death.
"On Krypton, the anguish of such a loss was tempered by the somewhat weaker bonds that the surviving party had established with other family members, most notably, with their children. Since I did not believe that it was possible for the two of you to have children, I addressed the problem by matching his life expectancy to yours. Stripping him of his powers meant that the two of you would grow old together. In all probability, you would also have died together. He would not have been forced to endure countless millennia of inconsolable grief."
"But Jason proves that children are possible," Lois reminded him. "And Clark is now also a father to Kara."
"The possibility of children means that Kal-El will have someone to help him overcome his grief when death finally claims you," Jor-El explained. "I will thus no longer require that Kal-El sacrifice his powers to grant my approval for your union. However, that permission is only granted on the condition that you produce more children. I'd recommend at least two more."
"Excuse me?" Lois asked in disbelief. "You think we need your permission and that you can dictate terms for our reproduction choices? Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I am a parent looking after the best interest of my family, just as I assume you look after the best interest of yours," Jor-El retorted.
"Jason's still a child," Lois snapped. "Clark and I are adults fully capable of making our own decisions."
"Would you not insist on offering your child counsel, even after he is grown, in order to prevent him from making a terrible mistake that could cause him great misery?"
"Oh, so I'm a 'terrible mistake' now?" Lois seethed.
"Lois! Father! Please, stop this," Superman interrupted. "We don't have time for this argument right now." He paused for a moment before turning to Jor-El and sadly telling him, "Father, things are complicated between us right now. I was gone a long time."
"Few worthwhile relationships are ever simple, Kal-El" Jor-El said knowingly. "However, you are quite right. We have more important matters to discuss and we can begin with my analysis of the criminal's device. It appears to be a crude sensor for tracking the alpha shift in the N-S boundary that is created in the wake of your flight."
"The N-S boundary?" Lois questioned. Please, no more techno-babble, she thought. My head still hurts from all the stuff you threw at me last night.
"That's the normal space-subspace boundary," Superman explained. At her confused look, he elaborated, "Normal space is the three-dimensional universe that you've always known. Subspace is another dimension that runs parallel to normal space, but everything is kind of squished together - kind of like a mirror in a carnival funhouse."
"And that is relevant because?" Lois asked impatiently.
"Kal-El's aura influences subspace during flight, leaving a ripple through the fabric of space," Jor-El informed her. "It's imperceptible in normal space, but this criminal, Lex Luthor, has apparently devised a method to track Kal-El's flight from the distortion in the subspace layer."
"How badly are we exposed?" Lois pressed. "Does this leave a trail behind for Luthor to track you wherever you go? You know - the breadcrumb thing? And if Luthor could track you here six years ago, what's to stop him from being able to track you now - all the way back to Smallville?"
Superman's eyes grew wide in shock and the color drained from his face. "Oh, my God."
"The alpha shift in the N-S boundary only occurs during flight," Jor-El informed them. "However, the ripple persists for several hours afterwards."
"I guess it'd be kind of like the contrails from a jet that passes overhead," Superman concluded after a moment of thought. "You can still see them long after the jet's passed by and it gives you a rough idea where it went, but not the precise coordinates... Father, can anything be done to conceal my wake?"
"There are some alternatives available that would nullify the disruption wave," Jor-El informed them. "However, we lack sufficient energy to implement any of the available designs."
"Can Luthor track him if he's running on the ground?" Lois inquired.
"No, not with this design," Jor-El assured her. "However, his movements could be detected by other readily available technologies, such as radar."
"I wouldn't be able to move as fast on the ground, either," Superman added. "If I ran at full speed without flight assist, I'd bust up the pavement or leave a trench in the fields."
"So there's no way for you to get home undetected," Lois concluded.
"I think the risk would be low if I ran," Superman declared. "I'd be below the radar from any of the major installations, and if a County Mounty was pointing his radar gun in my direction, he probably wouldn't believe the results."
"We're still going to have to find a better way to keep you and Kara hidden from Luthor's prying eyes," Lois insisted. "You do realize that we wouldn't have to worry about this if you were living in Metropolis instead of commuting from Smallville."
"Smallville's a better environment for Kara," Superman protested. "She has room to exercise her abilities without worrying about shocking the neighbors. She wouldn't have that in Metropolis and if one of the neighbors noticed something unusual, we'd be on every tabloid cover on the planet in no time."
"This argument is non-productive," Jor-El declared. "There still are more important things to discuss than your living arrangements."
"You're right," Superman acknowledged. "While we're talking about the kids, how thorough was your scan of my son?"
"It provided all the information necessary for a complete analysis of his genetics and physiology," Jor-El answered.
"What did you find?" Lois asked with sudden interest. "Can we do anything about his allergies? What about powers? We haven't seen any evidence that he's inherited any of his father's abilities. What can we expect as he gets older?"
"Slow down, Lois," Superman suggested. "Give him a chance to answer."
"The allergies you speak of are caused by mismatches between the human and Kryptonian genomes," Jor-El informed her calmly. "We do not have sufficient power to correct those flaws, given our current situation. Fortunately, the problem will resolve itself in time. Once his dormant Kryptonian genes become active at puberty, they will become dominant and the problems you speak of will no longer be of consequence."
"If his Kryptonian genes will be dominant, does that mean he will inherit my powers?" Superman asked.
"Yes, it does," Jor-El confirmed. "It will be no different for him than if he were fully Kryptonian, once the dormant genes become active. The analysis suggests that his powers will begin to manifest when he enters puberty."
"That's still years away," Lois pointed out. "Can't anything be done about his allergies before that?"
"It would be a simple matter to correct if our power reserves were not so thoroughly drained. However, there simply isn't enough energy to power the process and it will be many months before we've absorbed enough energy from the sun to even consider performing the procedure."
"From the sun? You mean this place is solar-powered?" Lois asked incredulously.
"The exterior walls of the Fortress have photo-electric properties," Jor-El informed her. "Nearly ninety-eight percent of the solar energy striking the outer surfaces is converted directly into usable power for our operations and we're able to store the surplus for later use. However, those reserves were drained by our intruders."
Lois turned to Superman and said seriously, "Please tell me that what Luthor took is useless without the father crystal."
Superman looked to Jor-El and asked, "Father?"
Jor-El somberly declared, "Unfortunately, the theft is serious. If the father crystal was not inserted within a short period of time after the console was activated, it would have initiated a disaster recovery process. A new father crystal would have been created from the data on the remaining crystals."
"Then he'd have everything," Superman said angrily.
"It would exclude our private conversations," Jor-El clarified. "Those were not redundantly stored on the storage crystals. The new father crystal would be as the original was immediately after this structure was first built, and whoever was present would likely have been mistaken for you."
"Is there any way to track the missing crystals?" Superman asked.
"They'd be difficult to locate in their inert state," Jor-El informed him. "However, if this criminal attempts crystal construction without proper dampening protocols, it may be possible to track the energy release, provided that the necessary equipment is in place beforehand. Unfortunately, we are impeded by our severely drained power reserves."
"Well, can't you hook up an emergency generator or something to recharge?" Lois demanded to know.
"I'm afraid the fuel for our 'emergency generator', as you put it, is also depleted," Jor-El explained. "Under normal circumstances, we could supplement the solar power with the output of the fusion power plant in the lower levels. However, we only had three point five kilograms of the helium-three fuel trapped in the crystals to begin with, which I collected on Krypton before sending Kal-El here. It would only have maintained the power plant at full power output for several hours and was reserved for emergencies, such as the force field erected during Zod's attack and the construction of the ship built for my niece's rescue. That fuel was nearly depleted prior to the break-in."
"So fill the tank back up" Lois insisted. "It's just helium, right?"
"No, actually it's helium-three," Superman corrected. "It's a non-radioactive, stable helium isotope created during the sun's fusion, which is extremely rare on Earth. The little that's here was either trapped in the mantle during the Earth's formation, or was produced by tritium decay."
"But you said it came from the sun," Lois reminded him.
"Yes, but whatever helium-three is present in the solar wind never gets past the Earth's electromagnetic field."
"Well, if it's up there, then go there and bring some back," Lois said irritably. "You have a ship, if you need it - you just used it for that six-year round trip to Krypton. Geez, do I have to think of everything?"
"That is a quite clever suggestion," Jor-El commented. "Kal-El, your ship could be reconfigured for that purpose. If we program it for a tight orbit of the sun, perhaps at a distance twenty million kilometers, we could collect several kilograms of helium-three in a matter of hours. That would be adequate to satisfy our immediate needs."
"Um, father? I didn't exactly make a graceful landing when we got back," Superman admitted. "The ship's in pretty rough shape."
"Did the escape vessel that originally brought you to Earth fare any better?" Jor-El inquired.
"I'm not sure - I hardly remember that landing," Superman informed him. "The spires had all melted away, but it seems relatively intact otherwise."
"I would like to examine both ships, though I suspect that it will be easier to repair and reconfigure the smaller craft," Jor-El informed him.
Further discussion of the matter was interrupted by a small voice beside them as Jason whispered to his mother, "Mommy, I'm hungry."
Superman turned to them and said, "I'm so sorry. I completely forgot about lunch. We still have about forty minutes... Smallville's obviously out of the question, but I know I know this nice little brasserie just outside Paris..."
"Did you forget about Luthor?" Lois asked sharply. "We need to secure this place before we go anywhere. We can't risk losing any more of those crystals."
"I must concur with the woman," Jor-El declared. "Until we replenish our reserves and implement more effective security measures, you should keep the father crystal with you. We cannot risk another theft, and your earlier statements suggest that the criminal's whereabouts remain unknown."
"Here's what we're going to do," Lois declared. "Clark, you'll take Jason and me back to Metropolis so I can get him some lunch and get him back to school. Then go get both of your ships from Smallville."
"I think that the big one would be a bit too conspicuous during the day," Superman commented. "I should be able to get the little one now, though."
"Whatever. Maybe you can land in Kansas City or someplace like that and run the rest of the way - on the ground, where he can't track you."
"It's going to take awhile, if I'm to avoid detection," Superman pointed out.
"Doesn't matter - it needs to be done. We can't lock this place down or cure Jason's asthma until you fill 'er up," Lois insisted. "I can cover for you in the meantime. Do what you need to do and meet me back in Metropolis when you're done."
"I'll try not to keep you waiting too long," Superman promised. He turned to Jor-El and said, "Father, we need to shut down so that I can take the crystals."
"Of course," Jor-El acknowledged. "However, you need only concern yourself with the father crystal. The new storage crystals are still blank and immature and I would prefer not to disrupt the growth process. The risk if they are taken is minimal." The image in the crystal walls then faded and Kal-El pulled the crystal from its slot. A moment later, the three of them were airborne and heading southeast back to Metropolis.
Friday, September 29, 2006 1:30PM EDT
Superman soared high into the sky, reaching towards the mesosphere above Canada's Nunavut province and pushing his old escape ship in front of him. He'd retrieved it from the barn cellar in Smallville and reprogrammed it at the Fortress for a fuel collection mission. However, there hadn't been enough energy to perform the modifications there, so it would use the energy in the solar wind to implement the programmed design revisions during the first six hours of its mission.
At the upper reaches of the mesosphere, Superman adjusted his grip on his burden and hurled it beyond Earth's reach towards its insertion point into solar orbit, ninety-three million miles ahead and slightly off-center from the sun. He indulged in a relaxing sun bath as he monitored the ship's progress and reflected on the day's surprising events. He quickly found himself preoccupied with Jor-El's explanation of the ultimatum from six years earlier and his recent assurances that he would have explained the reasoning, had he been asked. I wish I'd known, Superman thought.
From his perspective, sacrificing his powers hadn't been a sacrifice. Though grateful that he had been able to help as many people as he had, the powers had always been a barrier, separating him from humanity and forcing him into lonely isolation. In fact, if he'd known it was possible to shed those abilities even before he met Lois, he'd have been sorely tempted. Thus, when Jor-El had insisted on that as a condition for his planned marriage to Lois, he'd gladly accepted it without debate. He never asked why or even allowed further discussion of the matter - it hadn't seemed important. Trading the powers for a life with Lois had seemed to be a win-win scenario, as far as he was concerned.
How much different would things have been if I'd thought to ask? he wondered. Or if I'd included Lois on that discussion - she definitely would have asked. Would we have thought to ask for confirmation of our alleged infertility and nullified the need to be stripped of my powers? Or would I instead have left a pregnant wife behind for six years, instead of a lover? And would anything really be that much different now?
He shook himself from his contemplation and ended his sun bath, dropping from the sky and zooming across the hemisphere to Metropolis. Well, there's no point dwelling on the past, especially when there is so much work to do in the present, he admonished himself as he recalled the work waiting for him in Metropolis. It was too late to join Lois at the Vanderworth interview, so he pushed his vision ahead through the walls of Metropolis police headquarters, quickly finding Bill Henderson at his desk. Hope Bill doesn't mind doing a favor for Superman, he thought, and he allowed a sad smile as he accelerated towards his destination and anticipated the confirmation of his intruders' identities.
* * *
Lois was in a coffee shop located a half mile from Star Labs, where she sat staring blankly into space and reflecting on the day's events while waiting for her two o'clock appointment. If only I'd known, she thought. The lunkhead really should have told me, damn it! I wouldn't have gone through hell wondering what had happened to him and my head wouldn't have been so badly messed up... How would that have changed things, I wonder?
"Am I interrupting?" Clark asked quietly.
Lois yelped at the sound of his voice. "Jesus," she complained. "Stop sneaking up on me like that!"
"Sorry, I didn't meant to startle you," he apologized.
Lois rolled her eyes with a irritated sigh and asked, "Well, did you get your 'errands' taken care of?"
"For now," he informed her. "We're expecting power to be restored up north by this time tomorrow."
"Any news on the break-in?" she inquired.
"Well, Henderson reluctantly agreed to scrounge up a fingerprint kit from forensics," Clark informed her.
"Reluctantly? I thought he was on our side."
"He is, but he wanted to send a forensic team in for a full investigation of the burglary."
"What's wrong with that? Sounds like a good idea to me."
"Why bother? Given our suspect's legal resources, there's no way a burglary charge would stick, especially when nobody had been to the place in years. They'd easily be able to argue that the place seemed abandoned. Besides, it's well outside of Henderson's jurisdiction."
"And what if some of the prints they'd collect turn out to belong to convicted felons, like the ones who 'witnessed' Gertrude's new will? Wouldn't it be a parole violation if you could prove they were up there in Canada?" Lois asked pointedly. "Parolees aren't usually allowed to leave the state without prior permission, not to mention the country. That might at least disrupt that lunatic temporarily and give us time to figure out what he's up to..."
"...Assuming we can find him..."
"...and maybe even establish culpability if Luthor causes any harm with those crystals," Lois added insistently.
"I'm still not convinced it would help..."
"...because you don't want your other self to be seen as a victim," Lois finished for him. "It doesn't fit with the carefully crafted image. God forbid people think you're like the rest of us."
"Not so loud," Clark complained in a loud whisper. He sighed and was quiet for a moment before he told her quietly, "Lois, it's not just about the image. A lot of people have pinned their hopes on him and he'd hate to disappoint them by revealing that he is as susceptible as they are to certain mundane crimes like this."
"That's a load of crap," Lois whispered back. "He's letting his ego get in the way of our investigation."
"It's not getting in the way," Clark protested. "When the forensic team finishes processing those fingerprints, we'll have all we need, since we can't prosecute them for the intrusion. Besides, we can't arrest them for parole violations while they're still AWOL."
"Fine, but if it becomes an obstacle, you will let the forensic team do the full workup. And don't tamper with the crime scene in the meantime."
"I'm really not comfortable with the idea, but I'll think about it," he said quietly. After a moment's pause, he asked curiously, "So, how'd the interview with Vanderworth go?"
"It was a waste of time."
"I thought they'd want to help us," Clark replied in disbelief.
"They do, but there's a gag order on the case, courtesy of Luthor's legal eagles," Lois informed him. "Harold Junior's lawyer stopped him from answering most of the questions I asked. I got the impression that they were more interested in learning what we'd uncovered than helping with our investigation. I almost forgot who was interviewing whom...
"Anyway, the best I got out of him was that he 'would not dispute' the statements from the cops at the scene, and he was 'encouraged' by the M.E. reopening the case. In fact, they're going to file an emergency motion with the court this afternoon for an exemption to the gag order so that they can fully cooperate with the investigation. They'll even be including an affidavit from our favorite M.E. director, Tom Wallace."
"That's interesting... I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that Luthor doesn't want publicity about this," Clark concluded.
"It's not, but it's damned annoying," Lois said irritably. She looked at her watch and added, "Well, we'd better get going if we're going to make it on time. I