Supercop: 6/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"I don't break things, even when I'm not thinking about it," he said. "I didn't have time to concentrate on being too careful while I was getting those people out of the building, but I didn't hurt anyone. I still can't afford to get careless, but I think it's going to be all right."
"Are you coming to bed with me?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Give me another day to be sure. I don't want to take the slightest risk, but I think I can stop worrying before long."
"Good," she said, emphatically. "I've gotten out of the habit of sleeping alone."
He kissed her. "So have I." He drew back and wiped away a black smudge that he had unintentionally deposited on her cheek. "I think I'd better take a shower."
She grinned unexpectedly. "Better let me have those clothes. We don't want any black clothing of yours to show up covered with soot. I'll throw it in the washer."
"You should get back to bed," Henderson said. "You need your rest, and I can run a washing machine as well as you can."
"I have tomorrow off," Sue told him. "I'm too excited to sleep right now, anyway. Go take your shower and I'll start the washer as soon as you're done."
Aware that he wasn't going to win this one, Henderson did as he was told.
**********
And now, Part 6:
In spite of the extremely short night, he was alert and rested when the alarm went off at six. Henderson showered and readied himself for breakfast, but ran into an unexpected snag -- one that he should have expected, he thought, given what he had already learned about his newly acquired gifts. Sue, lured into the bathroom by a mild imprecation, found him scowling into the mirror, holding his razor in his hand.
"What's the matter?"
"How the devil do I shave? I just broke my razor blade!"
"Well, how does Superman shave? He grows a beard, too. I've noticed he has a five-o'clock shadow in some of the close-ups they've taken of him."
"You have?"
Sue poked him in the ribs. "You can't expect a girl to be blind," she pointed out. "Besides, it was before I met you."
"Oh. I guess in that case, it's okay," he conceded grudgingly.
"And you never looked at an attractive woman?" Sue demanded, one eyebrow up. "If you try to tell me you haven't ..."
He let a faint grin break through. "Point made. Don't kill me, honey."
"As if I could! Now, back to your beard. How do you suppose Superman shaves? I can't see him using an ordinary razor."
"Neither can I. The same thing that happened to mine would happen to his."
"Well, if that's so, then he doesn't use a razor. What *does* he use?"
"I suppose he could use some kind of super-strong metal razor blade," Henderson said, doubtfully.
"Where would he get it? And for that matter, how does he cut his hair?"
"I have no idea," Henderson said. "What am I going to do? I can't go to work like this."
"Sure you can," Sue answered. "Blame it on me."
"Huh?"
"Tell anybody who asks that I've been wanting to see you with a beard and you decided to humor me. Men do all kinds of strange things to make their wives happy. Nobody will think anything of it."
She had a point. "You're sure you don't mind?"
"Of course not. Why would I mind? And when Superman gets back from Japan, you can ask him how he manages -- and ask him how the heck you managed to get his super powers, while you're at it. I'd like to know, just for my peace of mind."
"Well, Waldecker and that little kid never knew, and Superman didn't know about the kid, either," Henderson pointed out.
"Oh, I know, but maybe he just didn't want to tell anybody." Sue ran a finger lightly over the coating of bristles on his chin. "You know, it *is* kind of sexy, now that I'm thinking about it."
He snorted. "I'll never understand women, but I guess I don't need to. We'll talk more about this when I get home. What are your plans for the day?"
"I thought I'd go shopping for some of the things we're going to need in about three months, and after that I was going to have lunch with my sister."
"Sounds like a good program. Too bad we couldn't have both days off together this week, but criminals don't take Saturdays off, so cops can't either." Henderson laid the unused razor on the counter. "I guess I'm about done here, since I can't shave."
"Go ahead and get dressed," Sue told him. "I'll have breakfast ready in a few minutes." She ran a finger over his chin again and made a faint growling sound. "I hope Superman gets back soon."
"Me, too." He patted her rounded belly. "I don't know what it is, but the farther along you get ..."
Sue laughed. "Don't tempt me. How does bacon and eggs sound?"
**********
The Precinct looked like its usual self when he walked in the door, although he felt a little self-conscious. It wasn't the first time he'd shown up unshaven at his place of work but those other times had been as a much younger, undercover officer when he had been working Vice. From the back room, he could hear the television going and recognized the voice of the LNN announcer. They were, he realized, showing the video from the night before of the new superhero, who had rescued the trapped victims of last night's fire. Three or four members of the Precinct were standing around the set, drinking their morning coffee and watching the coverage.
"Hey, Bill, did you see this?" It was Norma Randall, who had been stuck with desk duty while she recovered from a sprained ankle, secured one night last week when she fell over a tricycle during her pursuit of a robbery suspect through a middle-class neighborhood.
"Yeah, this morning," he said. "Have they found out anything more?"
"Nope. The guy just vanished after he helped put out the fire," she said. "Looks like Superman has a new stand-in."
"If the guy doesn't turn out to be like that Vixen gal last year." That was Dan, the janitor who had paused in his duties to watch the report.
"Nah." The speaker was Harriet, the night dispatcher. She drained her coffee cup and tossed the Styrofoam container into the nearest trashcan. "I don't believe it. The report I saw last night said he pulled those six trapped people out and then followed the fire chief's orders. Sounds to me like the City's picked up another Boy Scout. Always room for one more is what I say. Besides, Vixen was a robot. This guy isn't. Robots don't fly." She turned toward the door. "I'm ready for a good day's sleep. What happened to you?" she added, as she passed Henderson. "Forget to shave?"
"You don't want to know," he said.
"You're right, I don't," she agreed, picking up her purse. "'Night all."
"Night," Henderson said, absently. He made his way to his office without encountering anyone else who seemed to notice his unshaven condition and surveyed his desk chair thoughtfully. That was something he needed to get rid of. The chair's broken, twisted arm might very well make someone think, given the appearance of the new super hero. It might not be too likely, he acknowledged, but it was a possibility that hadn't occurred to him before. Kent probably had to stay on his toes all the time to avoid leaving unintentional evidence. On the other hand, possibly not. He must have learned years ago to control his powers and probably didn't leave clues scattered around for others to find and connect with his civilian identity.
Quietly, he picked up the chair and checked with his x-ray vision to ascertain that the hallway was clear. The morning briefing was going on, and the day's routine was getting underway, which left him a clear field. Quickly, he opened the door and made his way to the rear of the station, to dispose of the telltale item in the dumpster, half a block away. Returning at super speed, he re-entered the building and strolled back to his office, appropriating a chair from the area of the lockers on his way past.
This super-speed thing could be pretty convenient, he thought as he booted up his office computer. If he did it right, he could make it appear that Henderson and the black masked superman were in two different places at almost the same time, as he was quite sure that Kent did. Looking back over his five-year acquaintance with the reporter, he could think of incidents when Kent had appeared on the scene instants after Superman had departed, leading everyone to assume that they were two different people. There was no reason he couldn't use the same trick to guard Sue's and his privacy. The last thing he wanted anyone to realize was that he and the new superman were one and the same. It could very well make his wife a target, and he wouldn't risk her safety for anything. It must be a real relief for Kent right now that Lois was super-powered as well. Whoever had sent that death threat was going to have a very difficult time carrying it out.
Speaking of which ...
He pressed a tab on his office intercom. "Hey, Joan, any word from Olsen on that email threat against Lane?"
"Not yet, sir," Joan's voice said, "but there's been another development."
"Another one?"
"Yes, sir. The Planet's editor called about an hour ago. They've had another one. He said that he was going to forward it to you, so you may have it by now."
"Thanks; I'll check it out." Henderson called up his email. Amid the advertisements for hair-restorer, sexual aids and debt consolidation loans, which he summarily deleted, Perry White's email stood out.
The text of the forwarded message was simple: "Meddlesome reporters deserve what they get. Lois Lane won't live to testify."
He studied the message for several seconds and punched the intercom again. "Joan, get me Perry White at the Daily Planet."
**********
The sky was clear and dotted with stars, as Superman and Ultra Woman flew upward from the city of Kyoto, Japan. Behind them, the emergency services were mopping up the results of the massive quake that had kept the two super-heroes busy for many grueling hours but now their job was done. The rest could be left to the people of Kyoto to repair and rebuild their city in their own way and time.
As the waters of the Pacific Ocean flashed past beneath and the two superheroes flew east to meet the sunrise, Clark glanced at his wife. It had been a new experience, working with someone else who had the same super powers as he did. Logically, they should have been twice as effective, but he thought that working together as they had, they had done a great deal more than that. It was true that Lois had possessed super powers for a short time two years ago, but at the same time he had been powerless and had been forced to watch from the sidelines. This had been completely different. Still, hadn't it always been true that when the two of them worked together, they were a team that was far more than the sum of its parts?
"We make a pretty good team," Lois said suddenly, voicing his unspoken thought.
"We always did," he said. "It doesn't surprise me in the least."
"I guess it shouldn't," she said, "but I never saw Ultra Woman as being a hero equal to Superman. I guess he's just larger than life."
"So is Ultra Woman," he said. He reached out and took her gloved hand as he spoke. "We didn't stop being equal partners just because you suddenly have my powers, you know. You did great."
"I had a great teacher," she said.
"So, is Ultra Woman going to continue her career when we get back to Metropolis?" he asked.
"Are you sure you don't mind?"
"Not a bit," he said. "I think it'll be terrific. Besides, Ultra Woman is still the sexiest woman that Superman ever met."
She laughed. "You're on then, pal. Besides, Superman is the sexiest guy Ultra Woman ever knew."
"Sounds like this could be the beginning of a great relationship," Clark said. He pointed. "There's the coast of California ahead. Want to make a short stop in Kansas to see Mom and Dad?"
"Clark, it's barely seven in the morning there!"
"And your point is? Mom and Dad won't mind. They'll have been up since five. Maybe we can get some breakfast."
"I'd love some of Martha's cooking," Lois admitted, "if you think they won't mind."
"Then Superman and Ultra Woman will make a short detour to Kansas," he said. "Of course they won't mind. These are my parents we're talking about."
As they spoke, they flew over breakers and Clark looked down to see several surfers already at the business of the coming day. Surfing by moonlight? Well, this *was* Southern California, after all. They crossed the line from water to land and flew over sandy beaches that gave onto highways and ultimately to the buildings of a vast city. Los Angeles, like Metropolis, never really slept. There were already -- or still -- cars on the freeways, already bumper to bumper, and tall buildings lit up like Christmas trees. The workday was already underway.
They flew eastward and left the city behind. On the horizon, the rising sun turned the sky red and gold, illuminating the landscape in pink light. They soared over the Sierra Madre and continued on over Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. The sky grew progressively brighter until it was full day and they were flying over the vast plains of the American Southwest. Within minutes, they could see the grain fields of the Midwest and Clark altered their course toward Kansas and his parents' farm.
"Looks like they're up all right," he remarked as they slanted downward toward the farmhouse. He pointed at the tiny figure of his father crossing the yard from the barn. As he spoke, Jonathan Kent looked up and waved.
As they touched down in the yard, Martha flung open the door. Clark became a spinning tornado, and after a second's hesitation, Lois followed his example. When they came to a stop, Jonathan was laughing. "You've sure got that down," he said to Lois.
Martha had come to a stop a few feet away. "I *knew* it!" she said. "How did it happen?"
"Clark got hit by lightning," Lois said. "He was touching me at the time, and --" She held out her hands. "Voila! Ultra Woman is back."
"That's wonderful!" Martha said. "It happened just in time, too -- with that awful quake in Japan. But ..." she hesitated. "Have you seen the news since last night?"
"No," Clark said. "We've been pretty busy. Why?"
"Well -- there's been an interesting news report from Metropolis," she explained. "Something happened last night, and it's all over the television, today."
"What kind of report?" Clark asked.
Martha looked at her husband. "Why don't you two come in and have some breakfast," she suggested. "We'll turn on the news and you can see for yourselves."
Clark glanced at Lois, who shrugged. A suspicion was tugging at the back of his mind, but he said nothing as they followed Jonathan and Martha into the house.
"The news commentators were all talking about it when I turned on the TV to get the weather report this morning," Martha said. She switched on the little thirteen-inch set that graced her kitchen. "I guess it must have been around two or three in the morning on the East Coast. There was a big fire at a hospital in Metropolis and they were having trouble getting it under control. At first, I was a little surprised that a hospital fire would make the news, but ..." She waved at the picture. "There it is again. They've been replaying the pictures all morning and I guess every news service in the city is going crazy trying to figure out who he was." She went to her cupboard and removed cups and saucers. "Coffee?"
Clark nodded absently, his attention riveted by the pictures of the fire at Metro General and of the pictures of the black-clad and ski-masked man who flew back and forth, rescuing six persons from the second floor of the Pediatric wing. His rescue finished, the cameras zoomed on him as he spoke with the fire chief and then quite obviously followed the man's instructions, helping the fire services to put out the flames. He glanced at Lois.
Lois gave a soft laugh as the cameras followed the mystery man's departure. "Now that is a bunch of frustrated news hawks if I ever saw them. It figures. He never did have much use for the media."
Clark couldn't help but grin. "I guess you're thinking what I'm thinking," he said. "I think the question we were wondering about is moot, now."
"That's pretty obvious. It looks like he figured things out fast, too," she said. "That was a good job. Don't tell him I said that, though."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Clark said. "I guess Superman needs to drop by his office when we get back home."
"You know who it is?" his mother asked, as she poured coffee.
Clark sounded slightly resigned, even to himself. "Let's say I can make a pretty good guess," he said.
"I guess you're not going to tell us, either," Jonathan said.
"Not unless he says its okay," Lois said. "It wouldn't be right. Oh brother! Of all the people for this to happen to. Do you suppose he figured out how he got your powers?"
"Well, as you've pointed out quite a few times," Clark said, "he's pretty smart. At least we know we can trust him. I imagine he'd like to have a few words with Superman, though. There are probably some things he'd like some help with."
"I can think of a few," Lois said. "I wonder if he intends to go on wearing that ski mask."
"I would," Clark said. "He's pretty recognizable. And I just can't see convincing him to wear spandex."
The thought was apparently too much for Lois. She broke into giggles that had a slightly hysterical edge. "Ski mask man?" she spluttered. "Man in Black?"
"This isn't a movie," Clark informed her with mock-severity. "No ray guns or aliens that look like dogs, or man-eating cockroaches, either. If I were him I'd keep a low profile. At least he won't be the only super hero in town. I'd love to see what the Whisper will be saying about him, though."
Martha Kent laughed. "It sounds like life in Metropolis is going to be more interesting than ever," she said. "How about some breakfast?"
"I wouldn't mind that at all," Clark said. "Would it be all right if I took a quick ten second shower while you're getting it ready? I could use one after the last fifteen hours."
"So could I," Lois said. "Save me some hot water."
"Go right ahead, honey," his mother said. "Would you like waffles or eggs and bacon this morning? Or both?"
**********
(tbc)
