From Part 9:“I’m going to interview Luthor tonight,” Lois replied, businesslike, nothing in her tone of voice indicating that she had even acknowledged Clark’s offer. “And concerning the Messenger story, I suggest we pay EPRAD a visit, tomorrow.”
With that she turned on her heels and a moment later, she had left the conference room. The bang of the door seemed to be the only real proof that she had ever been there. Clark stared after her, his eyes fixed on the slight sway of her hips. His gut was suddenly tied in a knot. After their argument, their working relationship seemed to be pretty much back to the way it had been in the beginning. Lois probably thought he was a moron on a wild goose chase and he had done little to refute that impression.
It was better this way, Clark tried to convince himself. They had grown much too close for his liking, anyway. Something in his heart tightened painfully as he watched her walking up towards the elevators. If only their argument had done anything to quench his feelings for her, Clark thought miserably.
Hurt Before
Part 10Clark had spent the better part of the other night agonizing about Lois’ interview with Luthor. He had even checked on her, made sure that she was alright. It had been a pointless exercise, really, because in all honesty, what had he expected? Lex Luthor was nothing like Jack the Ripper, he did not walk around killing women with a butcher knife. So instead of saving a damsel in distress, Clark had just gotten to watch Lois sharing a fancy meal with Lex Luthor. He had seen them smile and clink their glasses. All his nosiness had earned him was another sleepless night.
<Just serves you right,> he thought bitterly and tried to direct his attention back to the file he was reading. The letters made even less sense than the last time his mind had drifted off. It was getting late already and he was not a bit closer to solving the case.
Clark put the file back on his desk, not sure what it was even all about. So far, the whole day had been a complete waste of time. Not only had he lost another good night’s sleep tormenting himself watching Luthor charm Lois off her feet, he had barely gotten to talk to her at all. And it was his fault. That notion made Clark even grumpier than he had already been. No wonder Lois had avoided him ever since their unfortunate early morning run in at the coffee machine.
“Did you get your interview?” he had asked her, gruffly.
“Why wouldn’t I,” she had hissed at him, rolling her eyes. But then she had bit her lips, suddenly too quiet. She had mumbled something and shuffled past him, without even pouring herself the cup of coffee she had come to get. It had been a dead give-away that the interview had gone just as Clark had expected it would. It was only natural that she had not stuck around to hear him saying ‘I told you so’. Throughout the rest of the day she had found plenty of assignments to occupy herself with.
“Kent,” Perry barked through the newsroom. “Conference room, now!”
Clark jumped up in surprise, just in time to see the door to the conference room fall shut behind Perry. The newsroom was remarkably quiet with all the reporters who were not out chasing leads gathered in the small room. Desks all over the place were left covered with folders. A chair was still spinning, indicating that its occupant had been in a hurry and a steaming mug sat on the desk closest to the conference room. The newsroom bore a striking resemblance to the side of an evacuation. Buzzing voices filled the air, turning into the dabbling sound of whispers as Clark joined his colleagues.
Perry flashed Clark an indignant look, his face flushed from high blood pressure. “How nice of you to join us! Where are Lois and Jimmy?”
“I don't know. I haven't seen them since this afternoon,” Clark admitted, suddenly feeling incredibly guilty about his childish behavior. “I assumed they'd be here.”
Perry waved Clark off. “We'll start without them,” he said impatiently turning his attention to the other reporters.
As if on cue, everybody stopped talking and all of a sudden it was so quiet that it seemed they had stopped breathing, too. Perry let his gaze wander over the group, his head turning a lighter shade of red as he registered the tension his authority was evoking. His lips twitched into a pleased half-smile.
“Okay, everybody, what have we got?” he asked, perusing the room.
Clark, who had sneaked to the back of the conference room, sank down onto a chair. Perry’s gaze, it seemed, rested longer on him than on everyone else. Earlier today, Perry had called the three of them into his office, asking how their story on the supposed sabotage was coming along. Just as Clark had predicted the other day, his reaction had been pretty gruff, when they had told him how much they did not know. Now, hours later, their hands were still pretty much empty.
“Kent?” Perry said, indicating that he wanted an update.
“I called EPRAD and suggested that they allow for a new, independent investigation. They told me Dr. Baines would get back to me on the matter,” Clark recounted and shrugged. “As of yet, she has not replied.” He shifted in his chair, uncomfortably. “Lois went to talk to the scientists of STAR Labs, who created the simulation of the launch. She didn’t give me an update on her finds.”
Perry gave a brief nod and turned to the next reporter, asking on a story about a local politician. The conference went on. Clark’s thoughts drifted off to Lois. She was still painfully absent. The voices of his colleagues became an unintelligible jumble, as he reached out to listen for her heart beat. Wherever she was, she was nowhere near the Daily Planet.
Clark felt a sudden twinge of guilt as he realized that he had not even stopped to wonder where she was, caught up in his stupid anger as he had been. He had just assumed that Lois would turn up and drag him towards the EPRAD facility. Clark already knew that it was going to turn out to be just another dead end, just like Samuel Platt had been a very *dead* end.
After watching Lois with Luthor he had flown over the hangar where the wreck was stored. He had x-rayed the whole place, but had found nothing incriminating. Just like it always was. Clark let out a frustrated sigh.
“Is there anything you want to add, Kent?” Perry asked sharply, his brows furrowing in irritation.
Clark flinched. “Uh, no, Chief,” he hastily said, straightening in his chair. Obviously, he had been louder than he thought.
“Well, then I’d certainly prefer if I wasn’t interrupted,” Perry barked, but quickly turned his attention back to the conference.
The next reporter gave everybody an update on his latest assignment. Clark did not manage to focus on the meeting for more than a couple of minutes. Worriedly, he looked around, noticing that Lois and Jimmy had not come. It was not too much of a surprise to find them still gone. Clark’s heart constricted at the thought that Lois had probably gone to EPRAD on her own. Alarmed, Clark immediately pushed back his chair, got up and headed for the door.
Perry was completely engrossed in a discussion. “The piece on the recent sex change operation in the Royal Family...” Perry’s voice suddenly trailed off, just as Clark had turned the knob of the door. “Kent!” he shouted, testily. “This meeting isn't over!”
“It's not like Lois or Jimmy to miss a staff meeting,” Clark said apologetically. “I…I thought I'd call around.”
Perry gave Clark a stern look but remained silent. He probably was not sure whether he should indulge in Clark’s insubordination or risk more interruptions. Most of Clark’s colleagues seemed to wonder about just the same thing. Their eyes were on Perry, their feet shuffling in nervous anticipation of the explosion that was certainly going to come. While no one wanted to be at the receiving end of Perry’s anger, everyone enjoyed the show when it happened to someone else.
The twenty staring pairs of eyes seemed to do the trick. “Okay. Go,” Perry finally said with a roll of his eyes.
Before Perry got a chance to change his mind, Clark hurried out of the conference room and rushed towards the storage room. The voices of his colleagues gradually faded into the constant background noise of the city. Moments later Clark had jumped out of the window and was airborne, straight on his way to EPRAD.
* * *
The air was warm, filled with the scent of flowers. Their rich colors were invisible in the dim glow of the moon light, giving only a vague impression of what Central Park might look like in the light of day. But even though it was already dark, the park was still bustling with activity. Friends and families had gathered there, sitting on blankets, eating, chatting or laughing. Lana and Clark were walking hand in hand, passing a young woman who played a guitar and sang a song that Clark did not know. They slowed their steps, listening to her powerful voice.
“Do you think she wrote the song herself?” he asked Lana, who just shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
She squeezed his hand and tipped on her toes to kiss his cheek. Her lips sent a pleasant shiver down Clark’s spine and he inhaled the vanilla scent of her shampoo. He laid his hand on her hips, partly to steady her as she continued to shower butterfly kisses on his skin and partly to keep her from stopping. It was sweet torture, eliciting a soft moan from Clark. He turned his head ever so slightly until her lips finally found his. He captured her mouth hungrily, still tasting a hint of the zabaglione she had had for dessert. It was intoxicating.
Lana ended the kiss all too soon, chuckling softly at the disappointed grunt Clark gave off. “Come on,” she said, pulling him with her. “Let’s go somewhere a little more private.” She batted her eyelashes, sending Clark’s thoughts spiraling down a completely different line than the one he had had in mind.
Half running, half walking they followed the path until they reached a section of the park that was less crowded, but nevertheless bursting with life. There Lana suddenly stopped and Clark managed just in time to keep himself from knocking her off her feet. For a moment they both just stood and stared in awe. It seemed as if millions of fireflies were trying to compensate for the lack of stars in the sky above the city, painting their very own version of the Milky Way.
“Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?” Lana breathed, her eyes sparkling.
“No,” Clark replied huskily, not sure if he was still talking about the fireflies.
The sounds of New York had decreased to a distant murmur that reminded him of waves hitting the shore. Clark felt his heart thundering in his ears as he watched Lana. This was it. His stomach lurched as he slowly led her to a near park bench. He took both her hands in his and together they sat down. The twinkle in Lana’s eyes intensified as she focused her attention back on Clark, on their joined hands and the way they were sitting. There was definitely someone more beautiful than those fireflies, Clark decided as he drowned in her eyes.
“Clark…” Lana whispered, her voice laced with excitement.
“Lana,” Clark took a steadying breath. “I know you always felt that I wasn’t ready to commit. But that isn’t true. I love you and I want to spend my life with you.”
“Clark!”Lana’s voice cracked. “I’m so happy, I…”
“Shh,” he stilled her, putting his index finger to her lips. “There is something I should tell you, before you say anything.” In his mind, he had practiced the moment more often than he could count. But suddenly, his tongue was tied. Clark felt at a complete loss for what to say. He drew in another breath, trying to calm his buzzing nerves. “You know that Martha and Jonathan are not my biological parents. They took me in when I was still a baby.”
Lana nodded slowly, the smile on her face replaced by a look of confusion. “I know,” she said somewhat impatient. “Why are you telling me this now?”
He gulped. “What you don’t know is that I was a foundling. One evening they passed Shuster’s field and saw a meteorite crashing down. For some reason they stopped their pick-up and went looking. What they found was a small space craft with me inside.”
The confusion in Lana’s features turned into a frown. “They found you in a space craft?” she echoed incredulously, slowly withdrawing her hands from Clark’s grasp. She slipped a few inches away from him, studying his form intently.
“They didn’t know where I came from,” Clark continued. “They thought that maybe I had been part of a Russian experiment. But it wasn’t for a few years that we realized there was something different about me.” A shiver ran down Clark’s spine and it was for maybe the first time in his life that he felt actually cold.
Lana raised her brows. “Clark, what are you talking about? If I didn’t know better, I‘d say you’re drunk. But you had no more than two glasses of wine.”
“I’m not drunk, Lana,” Clark said exasperated. <Why is this so difficult?>, he wondered, only to realize that a story about meteors and a child in a space craft had to sound far-fetched to anyone who didn’t know what he could do. “Here, let me show you, what I mean.”
He looked around, making sure there were no witnesses. When he was certain that no-one could see him but Lana, he reached for her. Together they defied gravity, floating up until they were sitting in mid-air, several feet above the park bench. A rush of confidence filled Clark, fueled by the excitement he always felt when flying. It had been the last of his abilities to develop and the only one he had embraced with open arms.
“Clark!” a high-pitched, panicky squeal disrupted the night. “Clark, what…? Are we…? Are you…?”
Noticing her uneasiness with a sudden surge of guilt, Clark floated them back down to the bench. As soon as she sat again, Lana jumped up, anxious to get some distance between her and Clark.
“I’m sorry, Lana,” Clark said dejectedly. “I guess this must come as somewhat of a shock. You see, I never told anyone else about those strange abilities I have…”
Lana’s lips quivered. “You mean the… the…” she made a vague gesture skywards.
“The flying?” Clark supplied and sighed. He figured it was time to come clean. “Acutually, there is more. I’m strong. So far I found nothing that I couldn’t lift. I’m fast, so fast I could run to Smallville in a matter of minutes if not seconds. And I’m invulnerable,” he added quietly. The confidence he had felt earlier was completely gone. Clark hung his head, staring at his hands as if they held some answer.
A lifetime seemed to pass until Lana finally looked at him again. “You… you were actually flying?” Her voice sounded raspy.
“Yes,” Clark said simply. “I’m sorry for not telling you earlier. I just didn’t know how. You kept accusing me that I didn’t want to commit. But I always felt that you had to know everything about me before we took our relationship any further.”
“I don’t know what to say, Clark.” Lana whispered. “I… I need time to think.” She stammered and turned, walking, almost running back the way they had come.
The sounds of her sobs pierced Clark’s heart. He watched her all the way until her dark frame became one with the night. Though he longed to run after her and get this right, Clark knew that it was probably better to give her time to come to terms with what he had just told her. He sank back down onto the park bench, wondering how he could have handled this better. Honestly, he could not think of a way to make it all sound less freaky.
The fireflies around Clark seemed to mock him, only serving as a reminder of how perfect the evening had started out. Suddenly, he felt the overwhelming urge to get away from it all. Quickly he checked if he was still alone, then he soared up into the night sky. A small gasp made him stop in mid-air. Clark turned his head. Lana’s small figure stared back at him. She stood several yards away from the girl who was still playing her guitar, oblivious of the rest of the world. The moon illuminated Lana’s pale face that displayed her shock.
“God, Clark, what are you?” Clark heard her mutter. He realized that for his own sake, he should have told her about his hearing abilities, too. * * *
Clark landed outside the hanger, glad about the darkness that covered him. The area was dimly lit by lamps that lined the driveway towards other, more frequented parts of the facility. It was easy to stay in the shadows. An old military jeep was parked beside one of the metal walls. Clark sneaked past it, casting a nervous glance inside and was relieved to find it empty. He felt the heat that still radiated from the hood, telling him that it had not been parked here for long. Crouching down beside the front wheels, Clark lowered his glasses to check the inside of the building.
His breath caught as he saw Lois gagged and tied to a column a few yards in front of the shell of the Messenger. Jimmy was propped up on the other side of the column, his back facing Lois’. His head lolled to the side, a trail of blood ran down his forehead, leaving red stains on the cloth that gagged him. He was unconscious. The steady rise and fall of his chest were the only signs that he was still alive. A tattooed man was crouching beside Lois, securing the ropes that tied her and Jimmy to the column. Clark could only see the goon’s back until he turned his head enough to see the side of his face.
He leered at Lois as she stared at him, wide-eyed. “Not so brave now, Babe, are you?” he whispered huskily.
A rush of anger went through Clark and he bolted forward, ready to tear the door that separated him from Lois and Jimmy to shreds. He stopped only inches before he would have sent the door flying. His breath came in panting gasps as he realized how close he had come to hand Luthor his secret on a silver platter. Storming into the building like some two hundred pound gorilla was not going to accomplish anything.
Discouraged, Clark continued to look through the wall. Dr. Baines stood looming large, her gun trained on Lois. The goon got up from his crouching position and joined Dr. Baines, mirroring her pose. A shiner marked the other side of his face, proving that Lois had put up quite a fight. Clark’s lips twitched in a brief smile at that notion. His focus remained firmly on the guns, ready to vaporize them with a blast of heat vision if need be.
“I hope you'll forgive the accommodations, but then again I've never been much of a hostess,” Dr. Baines said, a vicious smirk distorting her formerly so attractive features.
She slowly let her gun sink, nodding at her tattooed goon to keep an eye on their captives. Her heels clacked on the floor as she went around the shell and disappeared behind it. Save for the breathing of the four people inside the building it was the only sound to be heard. Her steps reverberated in the hanger, filling Clark with a sense of dread. Using his x-ray vision, he watched Baines open a valve in the storage tanks. A liquid substance leaked out and slowly spread across the floor. She opened the valve of another tank as well. A second liquid substance began dripping onto the floor, pooling there. Then it slowly flowed towards the first one.
Dr. Baines took a suitcase that was sitting on a shelf behind the shell and again her steps resounded in the hangar as she made her way back to Lois and Jimmy. They still sat propped up to the column, facing a gun. Lois had drawn her knee up and was rubbing her face against it finally succeeding in pulling off her gag. The tattooed goon just watched her idly, a smirk plastered across his face.
“Sorry you won't be around to enjoy the rest of the evening, but accidents do happen,” Baines said casually.
“Accidents?” Lois asked, her voice laced with panic.
Dr. Baines shot an angry look at her goon, but quickly regained her composure. “Yes,” she said deliberately slow, clearly enjoying the moment. She nodded towards the shell. “You see, while dissecting the orbital maneuvering systems, the monomethyl hydrazine leaked and mixed with the nitrogen tetroxide...” She paused, giving Lois a chance to mull over what her techno babble might mean. A smile crept on Baines face as she continued. “Unfortunately, the blast killed two nosy reporters who didn't bother to read the signs.”
To underline her words Baines pointed to a sign on the wall. It read “Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted."
Clark’s body itched to storm into the building and rescue Lois. He knew he had to do something. Yet, he remained standing where he was, listening to what was being said inside.
“Answer one question,” Lois demanded, her voice suddenly drowned out by the sound of an approaching helicopter. “Why?” Clark could read on her lips rather than hear what she was saying.
The helicopter came closer, hovering over the area in front of the hangar. Lights flashed across the ground, briefly illuminating the metal walls. Slowly the helicopter moved down, landing about fifty yards away from the old jeep. To avoid being seen, Clark rushed back to the car and slipped into the shadow it provided. His gaze however remained mostly trained on what was going on inside. His heart was pounding as the deafening sound of the rotor blades died down enough for him to catch what Dr. Baines was saying.
“…simple, Lois. Profit,” she replied with a shrug. “Outer space is no different from any new frontier. It will belong to those who get there first and seize the high ground.” With that she turned on her heels, ready to leave.
“You won’t get away with it,” Lois said boldly. “Our editor-in-chief already knows that this shell is a fake. I saw the real wreckage of the Messenger. The whole left side of its shell was bashed in.” She nodded her head towards the shell behind her. “
That one isn't.”
Dr. Baines turned back to her smiling unfazed. “Well, well, good luck proving it. This shell won’t exist much longer. And honestly, who would believe any paper claiming that anyone would go to so much trouble building a second rocket just to cover their trail? That’s just ridiculous, isn’t it?” She laughed briefly.
Once again, she turned on her heels and walked away. A shudder ran through Clark as he watched her leave. Baines walked proudly, not a hint of guilt visible on her features. The goon followed in her wake. Neither of them looked back, neither of them saw Lois struggle against the ties that bound her. But no matter how hard she tried, they would not give. The two fluids leaking from their respective containers were at the verge of mixing. Clark held his breath, counting the seconds that seemed to drag on like hours. There was too little time to do what needed to be done. If he did not act now, Lois would die in this explosion. He could not let that happen.
Finally, the door of the hangar swung open and Baines stepped out, the goon right behind her. They jogged towards the helicopter; completely unaware that the gust of wind they felt was a man rushing past them. Clark managed to get inside the hangar just moments before the door fell shut behind him. A fishy smell permeated the room. Lois was still struggling against the ties.
“Jimmy,” she shouted urgently, her voice laced with panic. “Jimmy, wake up!” A choked sob escaped her lips. “Oh, Jimmy, I’m so sorry for getting us into this situation. I guess I’ve tempted fate one time too many.”
“Lois!” Clark yelled and rushed to her.
“Clark!” Lois breathed, shocked. “How did you find us? We’ve got to get out of here. It was all Baines fault. She said the building is about to explode. She…”
“Shh, Lois. You can tell me later.” Clark silenced her, crouching down next to her.
He ripped to ropes apart and helped Lois get up. Then he went to pick up Jimmy. The young man was still unconscious, a dead weight on Clark’s shoulder. X-raying the shell, he saw that the two liquids were already mixing and started to bubble. There was too little time. Of course he could still try and freeze the chemicals. But this building was supposed to explode. Baines would become suspicious if it did not and would probably tell Luthor. And who knew what conclusion he was going to draw.
Clark grabbed Lois’ hand and pulled her with him. They raced towards the exit. Clark heard the chemicals starting to hiss until suddenly a loud bang erupted. The blast caught up with them just as they reached the door. Clark wrapped his arm around the small of Lois’ back and lowered Jimmy, so that his body covered the two of them. His feet left the ground and he flew a curve towards the ground, hoping it would look like the impetus of the blast had carried them several hundred feet away from the hanger. They landed in a large puddle of mud.
A roaring fire made quick work of what the explosion had left of the hangar. People from other buildings located around the hangar gathered, trying to find out what had happened. Voices were shouting, calling for someone to get the firefighters.
Next to Clark, Lois and Jimmy slowly open their eyes. They all looked back at the hangar that was quickly reduced to rubble.
“What happened?” Lois whispered, frightened.
“I'm not sure... I guess the force of the explosion must have carried us here,” he replied, hoping that she would not stop to wonder if such a thing was even possible.
But something else had already caught her attention. “Look!”
Baines’ helicopter was flying across the remnants of the hangar, quickly speeding off into the direction of the airport, where doubtlessly one of Luthor’s jets as already waiting. Clark bit back a curse, realizing that he had once again come too late to get any real proof. Then suddenly the helicopter exploded in a fireball. Pieces of the wreckage rained down, swallowed by the fire that still raged through the hangar.
“Do you think the explosion hit…” Jimmy asked in a low voice.
Clark just shook his head. “No. I think things went exactly as planned.”
to be concluded...at least for now...
