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Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Clark TOC can be found Here

Where we left off in Cat’s POV from Part 177…

The strange thing here was that Luthor wasn’t threatening Lois and asking Superman to do something for him. He was merely showing Clark a feed from Lois’s apartment. And an old feed at that. “That’s not live, you know,” Cat told him.

“I know,” he replied. Every word seemed to zap him of energy. “It’s the third time it’s repeated.”

“Why is she crying?” Cat asked.

He didn’t reply.

“Which button do I press to turn off the gas?”

“Oh, Lois,” he whispered. “Please, show me the truth.”

Cat rolled her eyes. This man was pathetic. He couldn’t even save himself. “Well, let’s get you out of here so you can go see her and stop this wedding thing, okay?”

That pulled his attention away from the monitor. “The… the wedding is still on?” he sputtered. “She didn’t… didn’t leave?”

Cat ignored his questions. “I’m pushing the top button. Is that right?”

He lay back down on the floor, whatever energy he had muscled to sit up now spent.

She pinched her lips together and pressed the button. Nothing seemed to happen. The bars of the cage still glowed green. “Did it work?” she asked.

Clark didn’t respond, his breathing labored, but not more so than before.

Cat put down the industrial remote where she had found it and returned to the cage. “Hey, now. She couldn’t leave without you, now could she?”

His eyes fluttered open and he stared at her. She could see the indecision there. He wanted to believe her. There must have been more to this torture than the Kryptonite and the loud music. Something which crushed Clark’s soul. Cat figured that there was more to the video of Lois.

“She’s stalling him, keeping him occupied, so that we could find you and her mother,” Cat explained, knelling down next to him.

He nodded, setting his head down. She didn’t know if he bought her excuse.

“I’m going to look for some tools,” she said, standing up.

“Hide!” he gasped. “Someone’s coming.”

She looked around for somewhere to hide. Seeing no good area in this room, she ran towards the other room only to remember the music. Quickly, she turned around.

“Go!” Superman hissed. “Leave me!”

She glared at him, picked up the stereo remote, and pushed play. Phantom of the Opera blared to life again. She dropped the remote on the wine barrel next to the stairs and ran into the other room of Lex’s cellar.

***

Part 178

Lois gazed at herself in the full-length mirror. She had to admit that she looked beautiful. The backless white lace dress that she had chosen was more tasteful than she had expected. Actually, she had never expected to see herself in it… in any wedding dress or as a bride for that matter.

The first gown that Lex had picked… well, it had been hideous. Puffy sleeves, poufy skirt, one-thousand teeny-tiny buttons, and an eight-foot train? Please. She wasn’t a princess nor had she ever wanted to be one, no matter what her father had called her. A knight on the other hand… Anyway, it wasn’t as if she had any attendants. That option had been discarded by Lois for this simpler dress at a fitting a couple of weeks ago, which sent the designer into a tizzy with alterations to have it fit just so. Although, it still was a bit reminiscent of meringue in the back and below her knees. She guessed there was no getting away from that, even with a designer dress. Not that she ever thought she would actually wear or walk down the aisle in it, let alone to Lex Lu…

… to any man, she tried to correct herself, but found that she could not.

What would it be like to walk down the aisle and find Clark Kent waiting for her? His oh-so-kissable lips slightly open in awe of how stunningly beautiful she looked.

Of course, with Clark, that was a frequent expression on his face. She had seen him sport it since that first day they met. From time to time, she still caught him gazing at her as if he were amazed that she spoke to him, let alone returned his love. Did he know how heady such an expression was? Did he realize how it shot straight to her heart like Cupid’s arrow? To have such a handsome, caring, and sweet man look at her… her, Lois Lane, the gruff career reporter as if she were the goddess Aphrodite herself, had been as much of an ego boost as winning her first Kerth Award.

Not that she would ever, in her entire life, admit such a thing aloud.

It had made her feel good that Clark liked how she looked, especially early on when he had been annoying her. The fact that he admired her and still teased her had meant that he liked her for more than her looks. It had been even more exhilarating to see that expression flit across Superman’s face a couple of times. Heady, exhilarating, and empowering were all good words to describe how Clark’s love made Lois feel.

The longer she gazed at her reflection in the mirror the more she could look past the woman in the white dress and see Clark standing alone waiting for her at the end of row after row of seats. How would it feel to have such a man pledge himself to her for better or worse, in sickness and in health, til death did them part?

“I, Lois Lane, take thee…” She exhaled, trying to slow down her racing heart. “I love you. You know that, don’t you?” she asked the mirage of Clark in the mirror. “I really do love you.” She had never said or believed those words before she had met Clark.

Lois blinked her eyes and the phantom image in the mirror cracked as Clark took off at the speed of lightning, again, to parts unknown.

Her mother had walked down an aisle to her father and expected him to be faithful and present during their marriage. Lois might be able to count on Clark for the former, but what about the latter? Could she ever trust him to stick around through the tough times and be there for her when she really needed him?

Would she end up still eating dinners for one, because he was off on some rescue mission? Would she have to hold down dinner parties solo with some lousy excuse for her absent spouse, because he had lost track of time? Would she go to bed cuddling with Clausy Bear more often than with her husband? She wanted to be able to count on Clark, but history had taught her that no man was trustworthy enough to pledge her life to. They all ended up disappointing her at some point.

Someone knocked on the door of her dressing room. “Ten minutes, Mrs. Luthor!” the wedding consultant called to her, jarring Lois even further from her fantasy.

Wiping her fingers under her eyes, Lois stomped over to the door and jerked it open. “You, there!” she said, pointing at the woman, whose name she never had bothered to learn. The woman had dealt with Lex more than she had over the last few weeks, anyway. “Come here.”

The woman swallowed and did as Lois bid. After she had entered the dressing room, Lois shut the door behind her.

“My name is Lois Lane. Not Lois Luthor. Not Mrs. Luthor. Not even Lois Lane-Luthor, but Lois Lane. You aren’t to call me anything other than that, do you understand?” Lois said to the woman.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m not married, yet. Last time I looked, etiquette requires that you call me ‘Miss’. Is that not also correct?” Lois said.

The woman nodded. “Yes, Miss Lane.”

Better.

“Now. You aren’t to knock on this door and tell me the time again. The wedding will start when I’m ready for it to start and not before,” Lois said.

“But Mr. Luthor…” the woman started.

“Whose big day is it?” Lois asked. “Mine or his?”

The woman’s eyes widened.

Lois might as well have asked her who would be paying her bill. “I don’t care about Lex’s schedule. I will not…”

The door opened and Mother Arnold entered the room. She tapped the wedding planner on the shoulder. “You’re excused.”

“Thank… yes, ma’am,” the woman said and darted out before Lois could finish her tirade.

“Lois Lane, that was uncalled for,” Mother Arnold started.

Lois threw out her hand towards the door, but before she could speak, Mother Arnold continued.

“That woman was only doing her job. You don’t have to like her or the job for which she was hired, but you shall treat her with respect. It isn’t her fault that you agreed to marry Lex Luthor, now is it?”

“She started it,” Lois grumbled. “She disrespected me, first.”

“Lois. I happen to know that your mother raised you better than that,” Mother Arnold said with a warning tone to her voice.

Lois doubted that.

“Well, I taught her better. I would hope it trickled down a little to you, too,” Mother Arnold said before sighing. “All that is water under the bridge now.”

“Did you see my mother?” Lois asked. She wanted to get out of this dress. She wanted to put back on her slacks and blouse, and never look back. She wanted to move on to the next stage of her life and the longer she stayed in this dress the more she wanted to share that stage with Clark… as his wife.

Brainwashing. That was what it was, pure and simple. Women were brainwashed as little girls to don a white dress and desire a knight on a white horse to rescue her and fly them off into the sunset.

No, wait, that wasn’t right. Her brow furrowed in thought.

Well, whatever it was, the whole wedding fantasy was total brainwashing, and Lois Lane wasn’t going to let herself fall for it. She hadn’t for Lex Luthor and she wouldn’t for Clark Kent, or whatever his real name was.

“No,” Mother Arnold admitted.

“Then you can tell that woman to tell Lex…”

“I did however,” Mother Arnold continued, interrupting her. “— speak to a Mr. Perry White.”

Lois grasped her grandmother’s arms in relief. “Perry? He’s here?”

Mother Arnold nodded. “He told me to inform you that your mother arrived on her flight from Paris, but before the detective who had been sent to retrieve her could, she had gotten into a town car driven by one of Lex’s drivers.”

Lois harrumphed.

Mother Arnold held up her hand for Lois to hold all her comments until the end. “The detective followed the car to your mother’s apartment. Apparently, I’ve just had word from one of Luthor’s servants confirming this, that your mother felt the need to change and make herself presentable for the wedding. She expects you to wait for her.”

Lois groaned. “How long?”

Her grandmother shrugged. “From what I heard, she said five minutes, but that was half an hour ago. Typical Ellen.”

“So, she really was in Paris? In Europe?” Lois said, shaking her head in skeptical disbelief. It astounded her that Lex hadn’t kidnapped her mother and held her hostage.

“I told you,” Mother Arnold started.

Lois held up her hand to stop her, but her grandmother ignored her request.

“You didn’t think I would recognize my own daughter’s voice?”

“Anyway, what did Perry say?” Lois asked, pressing on.

“They can’t present the arrest warrant to the man until Lex stays in one location long enough for them to do so. They need you to distract him from their presence. Mr. White thinks the best way to do that is to lure Lex out of whatever hidey-hole he’s gone into and to keep him occupied until they can storm the building is for you…”

“To walk down the aisle?” Lois finished with a frown.

Her grandmother nodded.

With a sigh of regret, Lois turned back to the mirror. “Perry didn’t mention Clark by any chance, did he?” she asked softly.

“Who?” Mother Arnold asked.

“My partner,” Lois stated. It had been simpler not to tell her grandmother about her secret boyfriend, than to get into the whole big mess which was her budding relationship with Clark. “I’ll introduce you later,” she murmured. Then, she took a deep, shaking breath as she pretended to straighten her dress.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” her grandmother said, wrapping an arm around Lois’s shoulder.

Lois straightened her spine. “Yes, I do.” She hadn’t come this far to back off now.

Mother Arnold kissed both of Lois’s cheeks, lifted up the edge of Lois’s veil, and draped it in front of the bride’s face. “Good luck.” She leaned in and gave her granddaughter a brief hug. “You better not forget to invite me to your next wedding.”

***

“‘Tonight, tonight, won’t be just any night…’” Lex gleefully sang as he left the wine cellar.

Cat sat down on the floor and exhaled. She had witnessed most everything from just the other side of the doorway.

Oh, God.

Poor Clark.

Lois… and… and…

Ewwww! Cat didn’t even want to think about it, but she couldn’t get the sounds of Lois’s lovemaking out of her head. She pressed her hands to her temple and tried to take a deep breath. Instead, all she could hear were the echoing moans of Lois’s pleasure in her mind. She turned to the side, saw a drain on the floor, and threw up. Sure, she could it on blame morning sickness, but she knew the truth.

What had Lois been thinking? Nobody had thought she would go that deep undercover… with that… that… sicko!

Here they all were working their tail feathers off to get that man behind bars, and Lois was… was…

Cat shook her head. She couldn’t think about what Lois had done with Luthor, but Cat knew those images wouldn’t leave her for a long, long, long time.

And poor Clark. He had watched that video three times already.

She glanced around the edge of the doorframe and saw Clark staring up at the monitor. Lex’s white cummerbund was still tied around his neck. Clark had started rocking back and forth as if he were a frightened child who survived a traumatic experience. Cat couldn’t blame him.

No. She blamed Lois.

How… How… how could Lois do such a thing to Clark? He was the sweetest, most wonderful man, whose world revolved around Lois, and she had… had… had done that with Lex Luthor. Willfully. Wantonly. Stupidly.

What Lois had done was unforgiveable.

But it wasn’t Cat’s problem. She would deal with Lois later. What she needed to do now was find a way to get Clark out of that cage. She would give him a few minutes to grieve.

Cat took hold of the nearest wine shelf and pulled herself to her feet. She needed to find some tools. A nice crowbar would work nicely. If she could bust the lock of Clark’s cage, they would be one step closer to getting out of here.

She walked to the back of the cellar and found what looked to be another elevator requiring a keycard. Why would Lex have an elevator in his wine cellar? Was it for hauling wine up to the penthouse? Probably, but who had two entrances to their wine cellar? Why use those steps in the other room when he could just zip down via elevator? Were the steps just for show? It was possible, knowing Lex.

Cat returned to the main wine cellar after not finding any tools in the other room. “I couldn’t find…”

Clark remained in the fetal position, rocking back and forth with the cummerbund around his neck. Not a good sign.

It would be pointless to talk to him until she found a way to get him out of that cage. The wedding march music being piped through the stereo wasn’t helping his mental state any, either.

Cat returned where she had left the stereo remote, on the wine barrel by the stairs, but now saw that there also was a big key lying next to it.

It couldn’t be that easy, could it? Had Lex finally made a mistake? No, this key must be for the door to the other room of the wine cellar, right? Lex had only brought it because… because why? Those doors were open. Lex never headed into that other room, but he had gone into the cage with Clark.

Picking up the key, she tried it in the lock of the cage. It fit.

Was this a trap? Had Lex known she was down in the cellar? What would happen when she turned the key? Would it unlock the cage door or would it release the Kryptonite gas into the air, instantly killing Clark? On the other hand, could it be just a mistake? Lex Luthor usually never made mistakes. She should know. She and Clark had been studying his every move for almost a year.

She turned the key. The Kryptonite gas wasn’t released into the air, instead the cage door swung open.

It had been that easy.

“Time to go, big fellow,” Cat said to Clark, whose gaze was still fixated on the television monitor above the cage. “You’re free,” she said again.

Still no response.

Perhaps ‘easy’ wasn’t the right term to use.

Cat approached him and set her hand down on his shoulder. “It’s okay. You’ll survive this.”

He continued to rock and stare.

She could hear him mumbling something. Kneeling down next to him to unfasten the white cummerbund from around his neck, she could finally hear his soft whispers.

“It’s a lie. It isn’t Lois. It’s a lie. It isn’t Lois. It’s a…”

Cat dropped the cummerbund to the floor of the cage. She wished she could reassure him and tell him that she knew that it wasn’t, but she couldn’t. Lying to Clark now wouldn’t help him in the long run. She hooked her arm around his elbow and tugged. She moved forward, but Clark did not, which caused her to fall back against him.

“Geeze, man. You’re dead weight,” she grumbled, tugging on his arm again. “Come on!”

Nothing.

She couldn’t move him and she couldn’t leave him behind for Lex to find later and dismember, or whatever other horrors Lex had in store for Clark… Superman. Leaning close to his ear, she whispered, “He lied, Clark. Lois wasn’t at her apartment last night. She spent the night at the Bristol Hotel with her grandmother.”

It didn’t mean that the video hadn’t happened. Clearly it had, but maybe knowing that Lex had lied about when the events on the monitor had happened would snap Clark out of his funk. He slowed his rocking for a second or two, and then continued, his murmuring louder.

Cat stood up and retrieved the T.V. remote. She would just have to turn off the image. She clicked the power button and the wedding march music switched off. Well, that was something. She stared at the remote and had no idea how to turn off the monitor. It was a mess of buttons. Turning up and down volume had been easy; everything else required some kind of technical degree. She pointed it at the monitor and pressed a random button.

The video unpaused itself and Lois finished her ecstasy scream.

Good going there, Cat, she berated herself.

Out of frustration, Cat threw the remote at the monitor. That accomplished nothing more than killing the remote.

Great.

Next, she grabbed a bottle of champagne off the nearby table and hurtled it with all her might. “Arrrrrggggghhhh!”

Direct hit! The champagne bottle smashed on the top of the television. The liquid gushed into the vent holes and short-circuited the electronics. The video and sound disappeared as broken glass rained down upon them from the broken bottle.

Clark moved to shield his face with his arm.

“Hey, there, handsome. You ready to get out of there?” she asked, stepping back in the cage. The floor was tacky now from the champagne.

He turned and gazed at her, almost as if in shock that she was actually there. “Cat?”

“Did you think I’d leave you?” she asked.

The expression of relief in his eyes told her he had. After what he had witnessed Lois do, he would have difficulty trusting anyone ever again. “I… I … I…” He tried to take a deep breath, but couldn’t. Right, the Kryptonite.

She held out her hand to help him up. He grasped her hand, but his weight was such that she couldn’t pull him to his feet.

“I can’t,” she admitted. “I need your help.”

Clark let go of her hand and started to crawl out of the cage. At one point, he stopped and picked a bloody piece of glass out of his palm, before continuing.

“I’m sorry,” Cat whispered. She really was.

“I’ll heal,” he replied. He had made it out of the cage by this point.

Cat guessed he was referring only to his physical wounds.

Clark leaned against a wine barrel. “I just need a minute to catch my breath, and then we can leave.” He took a couple more breaths. “Thanks for coming for me.”

She smiled weakly at him. “It’s what us best friends do.”

He returned her smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. She doubted it ever would again. Shivering, he pulled his cape around himself.

“Uh…” She stopped herself from calling him by his proper name. “Superman? Did you happen to bring a change of clothes with you?”

***

Lois couldn’t believe Lex. She had been waiting outside the doors to the ballroom for five minutes now. Five minutes! Who was supposed to be the bride here? Him or her? The selfish bastard! He wasn’t even letting their wedding be all about her. He was making her wait for him. If she didn’t already hate him, she would’ve after all his mind games.

He was supposed to patiently be up at the altar, like a good groom. Was he? No! According to the now frazzled wedding planner, Lois was supposed to wait until the organist started to play ‘Here Comes the Bride’ before the doors would open and she would walk down the aisle. The woman hadn’t actually pointed a finger at Lex as she flitted around Lois like a mosquito, touching Lois’s dress, her veil, and her bouquet trying to make everything more perfect than it already was, but why else would Lois be forced to cool her heels?

Lex must be making her wait.

Lois sucked in a breath. Had Lex found out? Did he know that Lois was just a decoy, a delaying technique so that Henderson and the MPD could arrest him? Was he, at this moment, taking off from the top of Lex Tower in his helicopter and heading out to his private hangar at the airport to fly somewhere with no extradition treaty? She hoped that the Inspector had thought about that possibility.

Why else would Lex delay? She doubted it was cold feet, being that he was the one who pushed for this whole ceremony anyway.

A cold chill crept down her spine. Had he found out about her and Clark?

Lois glanced over her shoulder and down the hall. Where was Clark? Would he arrive with Inspector Henderson and Perry? Or would Superman? She was hoping for the former, but after her sleepless night of worrying, she wouldn’t be picky if he showed up in his tights.

She closed her eyes and thought a silent prayer, Please, God, just let him show. Please.

The last thing she needed was for Clark to tell her that he had used her, their relationship, just to put a wedge between her and Lex.

Her brow furrowed. Why would she think that? Clark loved her and knew that she didn’t love Lex. Of all the crazy things going on in her life, Clark’s love was her one constant. She had known he loved her from the first day they met. She might have had doubts on occasion, but whenever she looked into his eyes, her worries would disappear. Why would she suddenly start to have misgivings regarding his feelings now, of all moments? Clark loved her. He had proposed to her. He wanted to spend his life loving her.

Lex had also proposed to her, though.

But Clark really loves me, Lois argued with that nagging voice in her head. He loved me before Lex proposed. He doesn’t want to control me as Lex does.

Except when it had to do with her safety, or protecting her, or their relationship…

Had Clark only proposed to stop her from accepting Lex’s proposal? Was he once again making decisions about her life without consulting her first?

She could actually hear him saying that. “I would’ve said anything to stop you from marrying Luthor,” Clark’s voice echoed through her mind.

Lois shook this thought of her head.

No! It wasn’t true. She knew that Clark loved her, but…

But what if he didn’t want to be married after all? He had always said that Superman could never be in a relationship, because it would put her in jeopardy. What if he had bolted because of how close they were to fulfilling that reality? He had a record of leaving, or flying off, when they were in the middle of an important conversation or when things became too heated between them. Was Clark going to back off from his proposal, or from their relationship, as soon as the handcuffs were firmly locked around Lex’s wrists? Was that why Clark wasn’t here, now, at the climax of their investigation?

No. Clark was probably back behind police lines with Perry and Jimbo. As soon as she saw Clark, she would reassure him that she didn’t want to be married either. She would rather have him in her life than a gold ring. It wasn’t as if she had ever wanted to be married anyway.

“Please, smile, Ms. Lane,” the wedding planner said as the wedding march began playing. “See, here’s the music now.”

Lois couldn’t help but smile. The timing of the music was impeccable. She had to stop herself from laughing as if some all-powerful being was playing a joke on her. All-powerful like a genie or some kind of imp, not like Superman, that was. Not that those type of beings really existed. It wasn’t as if they were like invisible men, cyborgs, giant asteroids, and gorgeous flying aliens who loved only her.

This certainly had been a strange and enlightening year.

The doors to the ballroom opened, and Lois took her first step towards Luthor.

God, she hoped that Inspector Henderson interrupted this wedding before she made it up the aisle to that man. Otherwise, he might have two arrests to make.

Lex exhaled at the sight of Lois. He stared at her with awe, which was odd, because he had never gazed at her like that before. She hated the man, but still it was a nice feeling to know that she could take his breath away. Did he actually love her? No. A man like Lex didn’t know what love was. He might feel attraction for her, possibly even desire, but it wasn’t love. Love was more than just physical. Love was more than just skin-deep.

Clark loved her, even when she didn’t look her best. She loved Clark, and it wasn’t only because he looked hot and tasty in those tights, and she couldn’t wait to pull them off him and explore every inch of his rock hard body. Lois loved Clark, and would continue to do so even if she had to wait until after they had finally talked to him about his lying and how he should never do it again. Then she would tear off his clothes.

He had better show up.

As Lex watched her move towards him, his smile turned into a smirk. So much for him possibly loving her. Why had he proposed then? Why had he gone through all this pomp and ceremony?

Lois finally reached the altar and pulled her gaze away from Lex to look at the minister. “The Archbishop?” she murmured to Lex.

“Yes. Sorry, the Pope had a prior engagement,” he replied.

Only an arrogant jerk like Lex would think that his money should allow him to be able to command people to do his bidding. She looked back at the Archbishop. Maybe he wasn’t entirely false in that belief.

“You look…” Lex continued. His voice faltered. “Beautiful?”

Lois smiled smugly at him as he eyed her new short haircut. She told him that she didn’t take orders, even from him.

“Dearly beloved,” started the Archbishop. “We are gathered here today, in the sight of God, and in the presence of these witnesses…”

Lois glanced over her shoulder. Where was Henderson? Where was Perry? Where was Clark?

“— to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony,” continued the Archbishop. “If anyone knows why this union should not take place, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”

Octopus. Octopus. Octopus! she screamed in her head. Please, Clark, if ever I needed to be rescued, this would be it.

“Do you, Lex, take this woman to be your wedded bride…?”

“No.”

The Archbishop paused.

“Excuse me,” Lex murmured, low enough so nobody but the Archbishop and Lois could hear him.

“I said ‘no’,” Lois repeated more loudly. She lifted up the bottom of the veil and flipped it over the top of her head. “I don’t love you, Lex. Not only are you cruel and patronizing, you never listen to me. You discount every opinion I express. But even if I could look past those faults…”

“Lois, darling,” Lex hissed. “This isn’t the time.”

“Really? Then when is the time? Should I wait until after you’ve pledged yourself to me? I thought this would be less harsh,” she said. “He asked if there was anyone who knew why this union should not take place that they should speak up then and there.” She leaned towards Lex. “So, I’m speaking up.”

Lex’s eyes widened in alarm. He took hold of her elbow. “Perhaps we should talk about this in…”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said, jerking her arm away. “Ever again. Not only have you ruined my life and the lives of all my friends… yes, Lex, I still have friends… not to mention attempted to kill the one man I’ve ever loved, you also…”

“Which man is that?” Lex roared.

Her eyebrows shot up. “Are you admitting to trying to kill more than one man, Lex?”

The Archbishop took a step back from them, and then another.

“Stop putting words in my mouth,” Lex returned.

“Why not? You’re always doing that to me,” she said.

The doors to the ballroom burst open. Perry, Jimmy, Jimbo, Inspector Henderson, and a crowd of uniformed policemen marched into the room.

“About time,” she mumbled.

“Lois!” Perry announced. “Stop this wedding!”

“Too late. I already have,” she called back to him. She reached back her fist and punched Lex in the jaw. “That’s for not telling me where my mother was!”

Lex stumbled backwards, hitting a tall vase of flowers, and falling to the ground. The vase crashed to the floor next to him. He looked towards the intruders. “What’s the meaning of this?”

Inspector Henderson flung a piece of paper towards the billionaire. “This is a warrant for your arrest for treason, arson, racketeering, murder, attempted murder, and other crimes too numerous to mention.

Lex pushed himself to his feet. “You’re out of your minds. All of you!”

“Lex Luthor, you have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney…”

“Will you shut up?” Lex snapped, pointing his finger at Henderson. “I can afford a thousand attorneys. I’ll have your badge for… I’ll have your head for this!”

“That sounded like he threatened to kill the inspector here,” Jimmy said to Jimbo. “Didn’t it?”

His cousin nodded with a grin.

Lex looked into the crowd of wedding guests and pointed to someone, screaming, “Get the governor on the phone! Get me the president! Get him on the phone!”

Lois looked, but she couldn’t see at which employee he was yelling. The crowd seemed more stunned than even Lex.

A couple of men who looked like plain clothes detectives brought a handcuffed Mrs. Cox into the room.

Lex stilled, his anger dropping. “Et tu, Mrs. Cox?”

His assistant chuckled, and her grin for her former boss full of gleeful revenge. Apparently, she had heard Lois’s tape and knew what Lex had in store for her future.

Lex lifted up Lois’s hand and kissed it. “Lois, I’m sorry. Something’s come up that I need to fix. We’ll take a rain check, darling, I promise you that.”

She stared at the delusional man. “I’m never going to marry you!” She pulled her hand free.

“Come on. Let’s go, pal,” Henderson said, stepping towards Lex.

“Let go of me!” Lex shoved Henderson with all of his might, throwing him across the room.

A couple of policemen rushed to Henderson’s assistance. Lex punched the first one in the jaw, flipped the second one over, and kneed the third in the gut, before running through a door at the side of the room.

“Don’t worry!” Henderson called, running towards the door out of which Lex had exited. “I’ve got the building sealed off!” He and another officer tried but weren’t able to get the door open. He ran off towards the main entrance. “This way! This way!”

Lois turned to Perry. “Treason?”

He held up his hand, letting her know that he would explain in a minute.

She looked around as her heart sank. “Where’s Clark?” she asked, her eyes brimming with tears.

Perry pulled her into his arms. “I don’t know, honey. He never came home last night.”

Lois’s heart exploded as she turned into Perry’s chest to cry.

***End of Part 178***

Part 179

Comments feed my muse. My muse also accepts chocolate, but it tends to make her lazy.

“Tonight” is from the musical West Side Story. Music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.