When Churches Come Crashing Down
Folc4evernaday
Part 5
***
“Your son can’t get his immunizations because his skin is impenetrable. How exactly am I supposed to keep this quiet?” The doctor asked.
“I don’t want to talk about this. You can’t tell anyone…” She shook her head vehemently.
“Did you have an affair with Superman? Is that why you’re trying to cover this up?”
“What? NO!”
“Then you might want to elaborate on how your son….”
“I’m leaving!” She snapped, grabbing a hold of her son in her arms. “I don’t have to answer any of these horrendous questions. She breathed a sigh of relief when she was outside the doctor’s office; away from the inquisition she had been subjected to just moments ago. “What am I going to do?” She cried.
***
Lana Lang sank into the luxurious couch, breathing a sigh of relief as she listened to the silence in her apartment. It had been a long time since she’d heard it. Silence. Her roommate, Linda King had offered her a deal she couldn’t refuse when she’d moved to Metropolis. Linda would pay the rent and all she would have to do was pay for the groceries. That had been fine until the murder charges had been brought against her. Linda luckily had had the money saved up to pay for the rent and necessities until her release. It was after her release that things had gotten complicated.
***
“Thank you for the tapes, Dr. Klein,” Lois said as she left his office. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to get to the bottom of this.”
“Yes, tell Clark to be careful.” Dr. Klein instructed. “There’s no telling who has the Kryptonite… Any rescue he goes on…” His voice was a hushed whisper as he spoke; despite the fact that no one else was around. “He could be in danger.”
“I know.” Lois smiled weakly.
***
Clark wore a grim expression as he watched Bibbo Bigowski be escorted towards an awaiting ambulance. He was injured, but he was alive. His friend hadn’t been so lucky. Red Dixon. The same man that had refused to speak to Lois and him about what he’d seen at the Metro Club. Whatever it had been had cost him his life. They’d been so distracted these past few months. If only…
“Thanks, Superman.” Bibbo smiled earnestly up at him. “If you hadn’t have shown up when you did… I don’t know what would have happened.”
“I’m just glad you’re all right.” He smiled weakly at Bibbo.
“Hey, Superman!” A man from the crowd hollered, holding a large sign with the ‘s’ symbol marked out in large black marker. He gave a lewd gesture and spat at him. “Super-ZERO is more like it. How many more people have to die??”
“Just ignore him,” Henderson said from behind him. “Nobody could have done anything.”
“I know.”
“Super ZERO!!” The man began chanting. Others slowly began chanting with him.
Clark shook his head in disgust, “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No, go on and get out of here. You did good. Don’t listen to them.” Henderson reassured.
Clark still wore a grim expression, “Yeah.” He muttered before ricocheting into the sky to head back home.
“We don’t need you!!!” The man hollered angrily.
***
He yanked a large phone book out of his desk and flipped through the pages. He pulled out the file of personal information and opened it up. It was illegal, but it was the right thing to do. Why should Superman neglect his child while the mother was left to struggle alone? He picked up the phone and dialed, “Yes, I’d like to speak to someone about a possible story….”
***
“You want me to what?” Lana asked in shock.
“Lane and Kent have always been a problem for us.” Mrs. Cox explained. “You have a history with Mr. Kent…use it. We need to know everything they know.”
“Spy?” Lana asked, slightly dumbfounded.
“Unless of course you would rather I talk to them?” Mrs. Cox prodded.
“No!”
“Good. I’m glad we have an understanding.”
***
Clark landed on the balcony to his and Lois’ townhome. He closed the balcony windows behind him; locking them as he did so. He spun out of his Superman suit and into a pair of jeans and a light sweater. “Lois?” He called.
No answer. He scanned the downstairs and was amused to find her in the kitchen. Even after his gentle prodding she still hadn’t adapted to trying to cook. From the looks of things she still wasn’t. He laughed to himself as he watched her struggle with the contents of the mixing bowl.
“Lois?” He placed his hands on her shoulders from behind.
She turned to face him, misery written all over her face. “I can’t get this…” She shook her head angrily. “I can’t…” Flour was everywhere along with various ingredients of what he wasn’t sure.
He placed a kiss on her cheek, tasting the remnants of the batter that had splattered on her. “Hi.” He whispered.
She smiled weakly, “Hi. I was trying to make dinner…” She gestured to the mess in the kitchen, “You can see how well that turned out.”
At super-speed, he cleaned the mess up then reappeared in front of her. “See what?” He teased.
She glanced skeptically to the now empty and clean bowl that had once been filled with unidentifiable goo. She smiled at him, “You’re handy to have around. Have I mentioned that?”
“Once or twice.” He teased, wrapping his arms around her waist. He let out a shaky breath as he held her close.
“I saw the news.” She mumbled against his chest, “Are you okay?”
He sighed, resting his chin against her head, “I think so. It’s just…” He shook his head vehemently, “It never gets easier.”
“I’m sorry.” She murmured, wrapping her arms around his waist, holding him tightly. This was usually the point where he would pull away and tell her he was fine. She had said he wasn’t letting her in.
He slowly untangled himself from her arms and moved toward the refrigerator to begin finding some ingredients for dinner as he spoke, “What all did you see on the news?”
“The explosion. They said it was a car bomb. There was talk about more of those crazy anti-Superman ….”
Clark shook his head. “It’s nothing.” He muttered.
“It’s not ‘nothing.’” She argued.
He sighed. He really didn’t want to talk about the crazy anti-Superman groups tonight. “Bibbo Bigowski was there.”
“Bibbo? Was he hurt?” She asked concerned.
“Yeah, but he’ll live.” He sighed, pulling out several vegetables, some chicken breast, and cheese from the refrigerator along with some egg noodles from the pantry. “You remember that guy, Red Dixon, he kept trying to get us to talk to him a few months back?”
“Vaguely.”
“It was his car that had the bomb in it.”
“What?”
He could feel the tears burning behind his eyes as he spoke. “We’ve been so distracted lately. He saw something that night at the Metro Club and it cost him his life. Bibbo said he’s been getting death threats…”
“Clark…” She placed a hand on his shoulder for support.
“The coroner said he died within seconds of the bomb being triggered. There was nothing anyone could have done. I just wish we’d been able to stop this…” He moved his attention towards the vegetables he’d pulled out and began cutting them up at super-speed. Within a few minutes, dinner was cooking on the stove.
“Must you do everything at super-speed?”
He smiled at her. “Not everything,” He pulled her toward him, wrapping his arms around hers.
***
A knock at the door awoke the young woman from her sleep. She pulled herself out of bed and went to answer the door. “May I help you?” She asked.
“Yes, I’m Linda King. I’m with the Metropolis S.T.A.R.. I understand you have a story to tell.”
“Story?”
“Your son is Superman’s; is he not?”
***
“The perfect perfume. The perfect jewelry.” Dianna examined the dress she wore in the full-length mirror. “And the perfect dress. All I need now is to draw out Superman.”
“You could try the old fashioned way.” Miranda teased. “Help, Superman?”
Dianna wrinkled her nose, “No, that brings too much attention to me. I think this is where my history as a rogue spy for Intergang comes in handy. Will the fragrance be ready in time for tomorrow night’s function?”
“Yes, I’ll have a bottle of Revenge for you by tomorrow afternoon.” Miranda smiled devilishly at Dianna Stride.
“Excellent.” Dianna smiled happily. “By the time I’m done Superman won’t know what hit him.”
***
“The Metropolis S.T.A.R.? What are you doing here in Michigan?” She asked nervously.
“I’m here to help you. I heard about your predicament and I believe I can help get your story out…”
“My story?”
“Superman can’t do this to you. He can’t just …..” Linda shook her head angrily, “He can’t just lead you on….leaving you pregnant and then expect you to take care of the child yourself….”
“But I…”
“We’re talking millions of dollars here….”
“But…What? Millions?”
“Yes. Where should we begin?”
***
An unidentified figure stood above her. She held a young baby in her arms, whispering softly to him. This was her baby. The baby she had carried for so long. A brilliant flash of white light illuminated the room.
A dark figure approached her, pulling the young baby from her arms. Her arms were numb and unmoving as the young child was wrenched from her arms.
“No!”
***
“Lois, wake up.” Clark gently shook her shoulder. “Lois, it’s just a dream.”
“No…” She incoherently fought against him, beating her fist against his chest. “No, give him back…”
“Lois, honey, wake up. It’s just a dream.” He urged, grabbing her wrist to stop her from striking him. “Lois…”
She seemed to register the sound of his voice and looked up at him, “Clark?”
“It was just a dream.” He repeated. She looked up at him, biting her lower lip as she tried to suppress the tears he knew she was holding back. “Are you okay?” He asked. She shook her head vehemently, burying her face in his shoulder. He felt her body shudder against him as he held her close. “It’s okay.” He reassured, wrapping his arms around her. She relaxed against his solid form.
She’d had nightmares off and on over the last few months. She never wanted to talk about them, but he suspected they were about Jordan. All he could do was try and reassure her of his presence and hope her nightmare didn’t revisit her when she fell back asleep.
***
“Mr. White, you’re here early,” Dianna said with a smile when she saw him exit the Daily Planet elevators.
Perry looked at her suspiciously, surprised to see her waiting in the newsroom. “Dianna, this is a surprise…”
“I was wondering if I could bend your ear for a few minutes.”
“Uh, certainly.” He said, graciously, motioning for her to follow him into his office. “What’s this about?”
“Superman.”
“Pardon?”
“Superman.” She repeated. “I want to do an exclusive on him and I think your reporters, Lois Lane and Clark Kent are the key ….”
Perry shook his head, “Dianna, that’d be up to them. They’ve both been through a lot and I don’t think they’d be too keen on sharing information about Superman; especially not with all the crazies out there…”
“Perry, do I look like a lunatic?” Dianna purred.
“Maybe.” He teased.
“Perry, I’m just a fan of Superman’s. I hate to see him being treated so poorly. I want to give him a chance to show Metropolis his true colors.”
Perry seemed to be toying with the idea. “I’ll talk to them when they get in.”
“Thank you so much.” She gushed, giving him a peck on the cheek. “You won’t regret it.”
***
Clark walked down the stairs, looking for Lois. He’d woken up alone. “Lois?” He spotted her at the desk in the living room, typing away. “Honey, how long have you been up?”
“About an hour or two.” She shrugged, continuing to type away. “I wanted to go ahead and type this up while it was fresh on my mind.” She said, motioning to the monitor in front of her.
He took a seat next to her, “What are you working on?”
“The follow up on the break in at S.T.A.R. Labs.” She said. “The time of the break in coincided with the time of the fire you were at. I don’t think that’s a mistake.”
“You think it was a setup?” He asked.
“Could be.” She shrugged, “I don’t know, but I do know if we don’t’ have something to show for us taking the last two days to work from home; Perry’s gonna have our hide.” The ringing of the phone caught their attention, “Watch that be him.” Lois added.
***
“Why exactly are we doing this?” Lois asked skeptically.
“Perry wanted us to talk with Dianna Stride and figure out what she needed for her Superman piece. She’s supposedly trying to clean up his image.” Clark said, not believing it any more than she did.
“I don’t trust her,” Lois said.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Clark sighed.
***
Bibbo stared at the burnt exterior of his club. He’d made many friends with the clientele that had come through his club. Red Dixon had been a good friend of his. He’d paid the price of being too proud to ask for help. Maybe if he’d done more he’d still be alive. All he had left was the old worn jacket Red had left at the club that night.
He folded up the jacket to put away when a slim jeweled case fell out of the pocket. Bibbo frowned, leaning over to pick up the case. “What’s this?” He wondered aloud. In large bold letters, the word ‘revenge’ was spelled out in all caps.
TBC...
