Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Clark TOC can be found
HereWhere we left off in Part 187…The offices on this level seemed in good condition. Yes, the Daily Planet had been bombed. Yes, they would need to repair or rebuild the ground floor, lobby, and the basement printing department due to fire or water damage, but the offices into which Lois beamed her flashlight appeared more dusty than damaged.
Lois returned to the stairwell and continued her upward climb. She had to admit the several months of time passing hadn’t cleared the smoky smell from the air. They would need to fix that as well. Finally, she made it to the floor where she had worked. Here the door had been broken and was hanging off its hinges. It hoped it wasn’t a harbinger of what was to come.
She scanned around the room. Not bad. Not bad at all. Some plaster had fallen down during the explosions, but the bullpen was mostly intact.
There was the conference room where Clark had asked her out for the first time. Jimmy had just announced that Platt’s accusation about the explosion of the Messenger had been proven by S.T.A.R. Labs. She and Clark had hugged and then he had asked her to dinner. More recently, she and Clark had been handcuffed together during the hostage situation much to his chagrin and her delight. Good times.
Lois recalled that she had suggested that they be handcuffed together the next time they had time to talk. He couldn’t have gone to Vegas without her, if she had done that.
Two doors down was Perry’s office, locked up and entirely too quiet. She almost expected him to stomp out and start yelling at everyone to get off their collective fannies and get back to work. It had been in there that she had seen Clark for the first time and called him ‘Chuck.’
She approached her desk and felt a tug of longing. She scanned her flashlight across the room and stopped the beam at Clark’s desk. It still had his computer, files, and telephone on it.
Luthor had condemned the building after the bombing and nobody had been allowed to retrieve their stuff. Everyone had just assumed that either the building was too dangerous to enter or everything had been destroyed. She added this fallacy to Luthor’s pile of lies. Lois, on the other hand, had covered enough fires to know that many of the older buildings were built to more sturdily than the newer ones and, therefore, could withstand fires better.
She crossed over to Clark’s desk and lifted up the receiver of his phone. The line was dead. She hadn’t expected anything else and would have been surprised if the phone service wasn’t one of the first things cut at the Daily Planet after Luthor had closed her down. She hung up the phone.
Dusting off her hands, she headed up the couple of stairs towards the landing with the elevators. There she saw that the doors to one of the elevators had been wrenched open. Her heart skipped a beat, aching. Clark… Superman must have done that when he tried to save that kid who Luthor had hired. Skippy? She turned away from the gaping hole and the caution tape.
Walking down the hall towards the main stairwell, she went around the corner and headed towards the ladies’ room. There on the wall between ladies and gents was a pay telephone. She lifted up the handle and smiled.
A dial tone.
***
Part 188******************
The Next Adventure
******************Feeling bad about leaving Jimmy waiting so late the previous evening, Clark had asked Lois to call him at 6 o’clock Vegas time, this night.
The phone rang five minutes late, per Lois’s norm.
“Hi,” Clark said, and even to him he sounded too enthusiastic. He couldn’t help it; he had been counting down the hours to talk to Lois all day. All this lying around doing nothing, but sunbathing, was driving him nuts.
“Hi,” Lois said softly and a tad breathlessly, if he had to guess. “How are you feeling today? Any better?”
“A bit,” he admitted. In truth, it was a little more than a bit, but still not enough to fully control his powers or to fly.
“That’s good.”
“You know that I’d be there if I could,” Clark said.
“I know,” she whispered.
They lapsed into silence for ten seconds. He sat down on his bed and tried to relax. He sounded nervous to his own ears.
It’s just Lois, he reminded himself, but that only made matters worse. He was about to speak, when Lois beat him to it.
“Did you sleep well?”
“I slept,” he said.
Off and on.“But not well?” she said, as if reading his mind. He could hear the concern in her voice and perhaps sympathy as well.
“Better than I have recently,” Clark replied, trying to sound positive. He had slept better than he had over the last couple of nights, but that wasn’t saying much. At least, he hadn’t woken Jimmy up by calling out or screaming from his nightmares. “How about you?”
“Well, you know…” she murmured, not really answering his question.
He figured she was plagued with nightmares too from her ordeal of witnessing Luthor’s death. It would be a while before either of them was getting close to eight hours straight again, if they ever had.
“Have you…” He cleared his throat, deciding Lois would bring up her mother herself if she wanted to talk about her. “Uh… I saw your interview.”
“Oh, no,” she groaned. “That wasn’t an interview, Clark, and you know it. It was an ambush.”
“‘Nobody deserves it more’?” he quoted what she had said.
“Are you saying he doesn’t?” she hollared.
“No. No,” he replied hesitantly. He wasn’t saying that
exactly.
Nobody deserved to die twice, no matter what he had done, but this wasn’t the time to say that to Lois. Saving Luthor once had been plenty for Clark, though. He was glad not to have been faced with the decision a second time. Some of Clark’s thoughts this afternoon had focused on whether he would have saved Luthor, if he had been able to. The fact that he might have been tempted to let Luthor fall, had he been given the choice, had not sat well in his gut. Superman had a genuine excuse for his inaction; not that he could ever use it to defend his behavior or the lack thereof. LNN wasn’t the only media outlet that had pundits wondering where Superman had disappeared off to during Luthor’s moment of need. He wished someone other than Jimmy would retort that the rich and powerful didn’t have a priority for Superman’s help, and remind the public that Superman couldn’t save everyone. He wondered if Jimmy’s public defense of his hero would be brought into the national debate, but he doubted it.
“Look, I had a bad day, a really bad day, and I didn’t need that right then,” she said.
“I understand,” he said, bringing his focus back to Lois’s problem. “Those kinds of reporters give a bad name to the rest of us.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I’m just glad you didn’t punch her on national television,” he teased.
“I was tempted.” He could tell from her tone that she was completely serious. “And she’s only local news.”
Perhaps he should warn Ms. Cooke that standing outside of Lois’s apartment building could be hazardous to her health. Who knew when a gust of wind might knock off a potted plant from Lois’s fire escape? Or when Lois got the urge to dump out her unused dregs from a hot pot of coffee from her window? He smiled. Best not to give Lois any ideas.
“How did your interview with the director of EPRAD go?” he asked, instead. Work was familiar conversational ground.
“Good, good,” she responded vaguely.
Clark waited for her to elaborate and when she didn’t, he probed, “Just good?”
“Fine!” she snapped, and then apologized under her breath. “It went well, exceedingly well.”
“Lois, what’s wrong?”
She didn’t speak for a moment and he thought he heard her sigh. “They offered me a chance of a lifetime,” Lois said.
Clark drew in a breath. He knew it might be a possibility. They had floated the idea past him. He had turned them down, and steered them in Lois’s direction, reminding them that Superman wouldn’t have known Prometheus had been in trouble if it hadn’t been for Lois. They owed her one. Now that it was her investigation into Luthor that had proved he had tampered with their computers in regards to Nightfall, they owed her two. “Did you accept?”
“Don’t you want to know…? Damn! They offered it to you first, didn’t they?” she growled.
He swallowed. “Actually…”
“Don’t even bother with subterfuge, Kent. For once, just tell me the bare bones truth,” Lois said, her voice raw. “You’ve been Daitch’s favorite since Nightfall, so don’t you dare deny it.”
“Yes, but I didn’t accept. You know that I couldn’t,” he said.
“Uh-huh,” she said through what sounded like clenched teeth.
Clark knew that it must be eating her up inside that they made the offer to him first. That had been one of her rules: Don’t let anyone get there first. Partners included.
“You want me to say ‘yes’, don’t you?” she accused, making him flinch at the truth of the matter. “That’s why you sent them my way, isn’t it?”
“As you said, Lois, it’s an opportunity of a lifetime,” he said. “Did you…Did you say ‘yes’?”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” she charged, and he could hear the irritation in her voice.
“You said ‘no’?” Clark sputtered in disbelief. Why would she turn down such an offer? He hoped she wasn’t taking his encouragement as pushing her away, so he said in a lighthearted voice, “You know when I said I needed a few days of space, I figured you could use some too.” He winced. That had sounded better in his head.
Lois merely groaned at his literal pun. “Clark…”
Backtracking, he added some enthusiasm to his voice. “You said it yourself, Lois, this is a chance of a lifetime.”
“Not for you,” she returned.
He sighed. “If I could take you myself, I would,” he said tenderly. If Lois were ever to fly out of the Earth’s atmosphere, it would be with a ship around her.
“I wish you had said ‘yes’,” she said softly, almost sadly. “Then we could go together.”
“You
did say ‘yes’, didn’t you?”
A small voice whispered down the line. “Yes.”
“Woo-hoo!” he cheered. “This is such exciting news. I’m so happy for you.”
“Are you?” she asked. He could hear the hesitation in her voice.
“Of course. It may be a P.R. opportunity for them, but this will be a boon for your career. Wait until you see your first view of the Earth from space. Oh,
minha, it’ll take your breath away.” Clark glanced around the hotel room, despite knowing that Jimmy had already gone down to the casino floor. “I’ll be sorry to miss that. I’ll be lucky if you’ll want to partner with me after this,” he said with a chuckle. He knew she would never partner with anyone else. She had never even wanted to team up with him.
“I could use a boon just about now. I’ve had quite the downward spiral since I left here… I mean, the Daily Planet,” she groused. “Do you think I’d let the best partner I’ve ever had slip through my fingers?”
He smiled. “Not twice.”
“You bet your sweet patootie, I wouldn’t. With my luck, you’d end up partnering with the likes of Linda King or Cat Grant again.”
“Nah. I only partner with the best; Linda doesn’t qualify and Cat’s moving to Texas,” Clark replied, hoping that Lois didn’t read into his words that he thought Cat was her equal, which he didn’t. Cat was smarter and a better reporter than Linda, and he knew enough to change the topic off those two ladies, whom Lois couldn’t abide. “I’m glad you’re going. I’ve always felt bad that you missed out on that first time, because of Superman.”
“Ha!” Lois retorted. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
He dismissed her denial out of hand.
“I missed out because someone tried to blow up the shuttle. Blame them, not Superman. Besides, I was a stowaway,” she reminded him. “I could have been kicked off for that reason alone.”
“I know, but still…You’re
you. It couldn’t have been easy to sneak aboard a space shuttle, yet you did. You and I both know that you could’ve convinced them to allow you to continue on the trip. If I remember correctly, the colonists weren’t scrambling to have you kicked off. You could’ve gone, and they would’ve had to send you home, somehow,” he retorted.
Or put up with you. “You would’ve traveled into space. How many other reporters could say that? You stepped off the Prometheus because of Superman.”
“Not once did I regret it,” Lois whispered. “Not even when I found out the truth.”
He swallowed. He could feel his heart beating more strongly. He lifted his glasses and wiped under his eyes.
“Because I got to know you,” she went on. “I haven’t regretted one day of that.”
“I’ve had so many regrets,” he murmured.
“As well you should,” Lois scolded, and he could picture her shaking her index finger at him. “You’ve been one very naughty man.”
He cleared his throat. “So, when do you leave?”
“Thursday, I think. I don’t have the official schedule yet,” she said.
“This week?” he gasped.
“Yeah.”
“That soon?” Clark’s heart started to pound. He hadn’t expected them to leave that quickly. “I don’t… don’t know about that.”
“You can’t tell
anybody,” Lois insisted. “Not a soul. Not Perry, not even Jimmy. Nobody can know until after I’ve left. This is top secret. You can keep a secret, can’t you, Kent?”
He smiled weakly. He guessed he deserved that one. “For you, always.”
***
Lois sighed. She pushed herself off the dirty floor of the hall outside the ladies’ room at the Daily Planet, hung up the receiver, and then dusted herself off.
Clark
wanted her to go. She didn’t know if it was because he needed more time to heal, more time to get past what Luthor had done to him in that torture chamber, or if he was genuinely happy for her. It sounded like the latter, but she had a strange feeling the former two had something to do with it as well.
Even though she refused to take the news personally, it still hurt. She was so ready for some alone time to finally get to know Clark, all of him. This time it wouldn’t be him running off on their relationship, but her.
Clark had said he was thrilled for her opportunity. He had just assumed that she would say ‘yes’ without talking to him first, even after she had yelled at him for the same thing the previous morning. Perhaps he had been serious about them not having to discuss every decision with one another. No matter how annoyed she was at him for that, it was hard to be angry when he put her wants and career ahead of their relationship. As for gifts, she had to admit this was a dandy one.
It had sounded almost as if this were something he wanted to share with her, but they couldn’t share it.
Superman couldn’t take any more days off, let alone the week they would be in space, anymore than he could come and visit Clark Kent’s girlfriend in space.
Ha! And to think that Henderson wanted to put her in a safe house. No way could Lex Luthor find her in space.
There was no way Luthor could reach her in space!
She checked her watch. The watches that Luthor had infected with his tracking devices had thankfully been taken into evidence by Detective Woolfe when he picked up the surveillance cameras. This new watch she had purchased at a dime store.
It was late, but EPRAD was launching a supply shipment in a couple of days, the director would be there working on the details. If he wasn’t, she wouldn’t step foot on that shuttle. She might be daring, but she wasn’t stupid. Digging into her briefcase, while holding the flashlight in her teeth, she found the business card the director of EPRAD had pressed into her hand as he insisted that she think over his offer before giving him an answer.
The phone rang twice before someone answered. “Hello?” said a weary male voice.
“Director Avery? It’s Lois Lane,” she said. “I’ve changed my mind; I’ll come after all.”
“Ms. Lane?” Avery sputtered in surprise. “That’s terrific news! I’m so glad. I knew that you would once you thought it over. We would love to give you a tour of our space station. There isn’t anyone we’d rather have join us.”
Lois rolled her eyes at that false statement.
“I do have a few requests about the trip, though,” she said, before launching into her idea.
***
Clark and Jimmy ate dinner at The Grand diner again Monday night. UNN had given them vouchers to use in the restaurants, but they would only work at this hotel. Jimmy had wanted to eat at the Grand Buffet. Even though Clark’s healing ability was one of the first to return, he didn’t want to chance his newly discovered sensitive stomach on food that was left on warmers for who knew how long. Anyway, the coffee shop had food both of them liked. For Jimmy, they offered a wide selection of fried foods, and for Clark, salads that were prepared in a kitchen and not left out on a bar to be sneezed upon.
After dinner, Jimmy nursed a second beer while Clark drank a coffee.
Jimmy merely shook his head. “Coffee? Really, CK. We’re in Vegas, and you’re drinking coffee, and not just any coffee, but a decaf coffee without cream or sugar,” he teased. “Live a little.”
“Am I making fun of you drinking beer? I know what you’ll feel like in the morning,” Clark warned. He had learned his lesson.
Jimmy waved off his objections. “I’m not going to drink as much as we did Saturday night. That was a special occasion.”
Clark was thankful that for his next special occasion he would have his powers restored. He had to admit, from what he recalled of the evening, he and the Jimmys had enjoyed themselves immensely. Although, Clark couldn’t understand why. Apparently, beer made everything funnier. He shrugged.
“So, Jimmy, why don’t you tell me the real reason you invited me on this trip?” Clark asked.
“I did,” Jimmy said, but he didn’t look Clark in the eye.
“The interview?”
Jimmy appeared a bit squirmy.
There
had been an interview. He and Jimmy had watched it before Lois called. UNN had made Jimmy appear to be a major player at the Daily Planet and in the battle against Lex Luthor. Clark could understand his discomfort better now. It hadn’t been exactly a lie, but it hadn’t felt like the truth either. Clark’s favorite part had been Jimmy’s defense of Superman not rescuing Luthor from his suicide jump, saying that Luthor couldn’t expect the hero to be at his beck and call merely because his was rich and that he had only himself to blame for his death. Anyway, Superman couldn’t be everywhere at once. With Clark’s luck, he was sure others would see it as Jimmy being biased against Luthor though and not take his words seriously.
He lifted his coffee to his lips, waiting until Jimmy was ready to say more.
“After my UNN interview, when I was floating on cloud nine, I asked for another interview,” Jimmy said, staring down into his mug of beer. “With their H.R. department.”
“You asked for a job?” Clark said with some surprise.
“Hey, the Planet is gone, CK, and I need to get out of Metropolis. I was hoping for a fresh start here,” he said. “Where I was known as some heroic photojournalist.” He shook his head.
“They said ‘no’?”
“They were kind, but definite. They had no room for a still photographer in their live-action news department,” he said. “I told them I could do video.”
Clark winced.
“Yeah. They didn’t buy it either. Apparently, I don’t have the credentials to get hired as a cameraman. Union rules or something,” Jimmy grumbled, taking another gulp of his beer.
“I’m sorry,” Clark said.
“It’s not just that, CK. I want more out of my life than being Perry’s errand boy,” Jimmy said.
“You haven’t been that for a year, and you know it,” Clark insisted, tapping the table.
“I know. I know. I mean, I want what you have…” Jimmy glanced over at Clark. “Someone to love them… Someone to look forward to seeing at the end of a hard day… Someone who’ll miss me should I blow up.”
“Jimmy,” Clark said. “You have that. Your friends…”
“It’s not the same thing, CK, and you know it. Come on, you’ve been in love with Lois since moment one.” Jimmy pointed at him. “Don’t you try and deny it, either.”
Clark shrugged. There was no denial.
“Don’t tell me that your life would be all hunky dory if you didn’t have that. Don’t tell me that you didn’t think of Lois once after you were attacked and left unconscious in the alley. She was the reason that you pushed yourself to your feet and dragged yourself across town. I want that!” Jimmy exclaimed. “Tomorrow might be too late.”
Clark’s brow furrowed. “Too late for what?”
Jimmy gazed out the window of the restaurant. “You know. Forget it. It doesn’t matter,” he muttered, tapping Clark on the arm. “Come on. This is our last night to win a fortune on the slot machines, and you still owe me fifty bucks.”
“I bought your potato skins last night,” Clark argued.
“Which covered the quarters you ‘borrowed’ and the cost of those flip-flops. Don’t think I didn’t notice,” Jimmy said, standing up.
Clark pulled out his wallet and left a few dollars on the table to cover the tip, despite the dinner having been comped.
***
“I’m turning in, Jimmy,” CK said, standing up from his last unwinning pull of the slot machine an hour later.
Jimmy glanced at his watch. “It’s hardly nine.”
“Yeah. Vegas time. My clock is set for Metropolis, where it’s three hours later,” CK explained. “Anyway, all this clink, clink, clank and bells and whistles are giving me a headache.”
“You go ahead. It’s too early for me,” Jimmy said, rattling the coins in his plastic bucket. “I still have some quarters left.”
CK merely shook his head.
“I’ll be up shortly,” Jimmy called with a wave to his friend’s departing back.
Finally.Jimmy had been waiting for CK to turn in for over an hour. It was obvious the slots were boring him to tears. Then, again, CK hadn’t won a thousand dollars on his third pull of a lever as Jimmy had. He had pocketed that money to save for his unemployment fund. The money in his top bucket was what was left of the fifty dollars CK had lost on his Lois bet. All his winnings went into a separate much lighter bucket.
Now that CK had gone upstairs, Jimmy could concentrate on finding Jenny again. With his luck, she wouldn’t work on Monday night. He jumped off his stool and started wandering around the casino floor. He went and sat in the small jazz lounge where Jenny had waited on him the previous night, hoping she might be working there again.
Jimmy had no idea what he would say to her, even if he did see her. He just wanted to see her. Half hour and a soda later, Jimmy realized it was time to move on. He needed to play the slots or look in another lounge for Jenny.
An hour and three sodas later, he caught sight of her leaving Kung Pow!, the Chinese restaurant, which had just closed for the night. His heart caught in his throat. That rush he had felt upon meeting her the previous night repeated itself. It hadn’t been a fluke.
He wanted to run up and say ‘hi’, but that would be awkward.
Oh, God. What could he say to her without sounding like a creep? She probably had hundreds of men come on to her.
Should he invite her out for a drink? Did she want a drink, having just gotten off work?
He watched as she waved at her co-workers and exited out the main door and onto the Strip.
Good going there, sport. Jimmy had just stood there and watched her walk out of his life. What kind of idiot was he? He wanted to grab life by the horns and he couldn’t even get up the nerve to approach a pretty girl he had seen at the bar the previous night.
He took a deep breath and exhaled it, and then followed her outside.
The sidewalks on the Strip were quite busy for after ten thirty on a Monday night. Las Vegas, like Metropolis, was a city that never slept.
Double crap.
Where was she?
He saw a woman with similar hair sitting on bus bench about halfway down the block. He decided to take a chance. His footsteps lightened as he realized it was her.
Jenny glanced up as he approached. Then, again, it was hard to be stealthy while holding coin buckets.
“Hi, Jenny!” he said brightly.
“Hi…” Jenny replied slowly, unsurely.
Did she not remember him? Had the connection only been on his side?
“Jimmy,” he said. “We talked last night.”
She pointed at him. “Right. Hi.”
He sat down next to her. “I thought I’d see you tonight, out on the casino floor.”
“Oh,” she said, and he could see the walls rising in her eyes. “Um… I covered a shift at the restaurant.”
“I... um… Would you like to get a drink and talk?” Jimmy blurted out.
Jenny’s eyes widened. “Well… I… I should really get home. I’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”
“Oh,” Jimmy’s shoulders fell. He knew rejection when he heard it. “And I fly back to Metropolis.”
“That’s right. You’re from the Big Apricot,” she said. “What a mess your city is in. I was watching the continuing coverage of Lex Luthor’s wedding on UNN this after…” She pointed at him. “Wait! I know you!”
Had she really not remembered talking to him the night before?
“You’re that photographer Luthor framed,” she said, her hand gestured wildly. “James something. Of course! Jimmy. Duh.”
He shrugged, not really wanting to be recognized for that interview.
“Why didn’t you say that you were some hot shot celebrity last night?” she asked with a nudge.
“I don’t think of myself like that,” he replied.
“You’ve met Superman, haven’t you?” she asked. Suddenly the walls were gone and she was hanging off his every word.
“Once or twice,” he said casually.
“Really! How exciting is that? To have met a real man from outer space,” she said.
“Um… yeah, I guess he is. We don’t really think of him like that. He’s just a good guy who helps out when he can,” Jimmy said. “It’s not as if we’re close friends or anything.”
“Oh, my God! Your friend, CK…” Her hand shook as she pointed at him. “He must be Clark Kent, the reporter friend you talked about, and the girlfriend he was calling…” She snapped her fingers. “Lois! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” She slapped herself in the forehead. “Why didn’t I put it all together last night? Lois Lane, his partner, of course! It’s not like everyone names their kids ‘Lois’ nowadays, do they? Oh, my God!” She gasped as some realization came to her. “Was she
cheating on Lex Luthor?”
He stood up. “No,” he said adamantly. More like the other way around from his point of view. “Look, I’m not really at liberty to say…”
Jenny rose to her feet, and set her hand on his. “Oh, don’t go, Jimmy. I’d really like it if you walked me home.”
Jimmy was about to say ‘no’. She was only interested in him because she had seen him on TV and because he knew Superman. “I thought you were taking the bus.”
“Usually I walk, because it’s so much cooler at night. It’s a great way to wind down after a stressful night, but I had a nasty demanding table towards the end of the night tonight. I bent over backwards to give them everything they asked for and then the jerks ended up stiffing me anyway,” Jenny said, morphing back into the angel he had met the previous night. “Come on. I could really use a pick me up.”
He couldn’t say ‘no’ now.
***
“
Help! Superman!”
Clark bolted straight upright in bed. His heart was pumping. He was drenched in sweat. He had been having one of those nightmares one wanted to wake up from but couldn’t.
He took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart. Had somebody yelled for him or had it been part of his nightmare?
He stretched out his senses and then quickly reeled them back in. Between the roar of slot machines from over forty casinos on the Strip alone and being in a hotel late in the evening he had gotten an earful of noises he neither needed nor desired.
Clark glanced over at the other bed and saw that it was still made. Jimmy hadn’t returned yet. The clock showed that it was after eleven. Was his friend still in the casino?
Then he heard the same woman’s voice scream.
Jumping out of bed, he realized he didn’t have the Suit with him. Cat had taken the one he had been wearing while he had been captured to her place to wash it. All the others were secure, too secure for anyone without any strength that was.
Someone needed him. He used to rescue people occasionally back in his old dimension before that other Lois had made him a suit. Man, had Lana hated that.
This city was full of tall hotels where people often gazed outside at the view. Therefore, flying low out of his uniform wasn’t an option. Anyway, he hadn’t brought any dark clothing with him. He didn’t need a photo of Superman flying about in jeans and a t-shirt to start a completely new rumor mill.
He went to the window and gazed down at the pool, happy that they had been situated on the dark side of the hotel. He stretched out his sight and hearing, limiting it to outside the hotels. It was a difficult filter to maintain, requiring mental muscles that felt tired from ill-use.
Four blocks away, down on the side streets off the Strip, a woman knelt in a dark alleyway. Clark could see the legs of a man lying on the ground next to her.
Clark went to save the day to discover that he could only open an eight by four inch portion of the window. This wouldn’t do. This wouldn’t do at all. He assumed the hotel used these windows to keep jumpers at a minimum, and for that Clark was thankful.
He glanced back at the couple and saw the man reach up and cup the woman’s jaw. “Superman’s back in Metropolis, Jenny. He can’t hear you.”
Jimmy!Guilt wracked every pore of Clark’s body. He shouldn’t have turned in early. He should have stayed with his friend. He had once again abandoned Jimmy when he was in need.
Then, again, would Jimmy have wanted Clark with him while off on a walk with Jenny? Probably not.
He shook his head. Would he want Jimmy along on a romantic walk with Lois? Definitely not.
Clark focused more intently on the alley. Quarters were strewn everywhere. He gazed through the dumpster to see his friend’s condition. Jimmy appeared fine, but had a hand to his head.
“It sure made that man pause though,” Jenny replied with a cocky grin as she took Jimmy’s hand in her own. “I can’t believe you attacked him.”
“He pulled you into an alley and tried to steal your purse,” Jimmy replied, as if he had no other option. “What was I supposed to do?”
“Not throw your coin buckets at him,” Jenny said incredulously.
“Surprise is the best element of defense,” he replied. “Lois Lane taught me that.”
Jenny hesitantly raised her hand to his face. “And you’ll have the shiner to prove it.”
“I slipped on the quarters!” Jimmy insisted.
“Uh-huh, and hit his fist on the way down?”
“Hey, I got a good punch in as well,” Jimmy said.
“Come on, hero. I’ve got ice back at my place,” she said. She glanced around the alley. “Let’s pick up your money first.”
“No, what we should do is get moving. Like the Tusken Raiders, muggers are easily scared but he’ll come back,” Jimmy said, climbing to his feet. “It would be better if we’re gone.”
Jenny laughed. “Oh, Jimmy. Don’t tell me you’re one
those people.”
He picked up what was left of his plastic buckets, poured a few coins out into his hand, and threw the buckets in the dumpster before pocketing his change. “There wasn’t much left anyway.” He shook his head. “One of what?”
“Someone who can drop a Star Wars reference into every conversation.”
Jimmy sputtered, “This is the first time I’ve mentioned…” He grinned, pointing at her. “Yeah, but you recognized it.”
“Of course, I recognized it. It’s only the best movie ever made.”
Jimmy wrapped an arm around Jenny’s waist and pulled her to his chest. “You better watch out what you say or I might fall head over heels in love with you.”
Pulling back his senses, Clark turned away from the window and headed to bed. He was glad to know that his friend was okay and just the mention of Superman had been enough to scare the would-be thief away.
All would be right in the world.
***End of Part 188*** Part 189 Comments If you've been living on the distant forest moon of Endor for the last century, here's the info you need to understand Jimmy and Jenny's conversation:
Tusken Raiders are characters from George Lucas's
Star Wars Universe (and Jimmy's line of dialogue references "Star Wars: A New Hope".)
