When Churches Come Crashing Down
Folc4evernaday
Part 19
***
The soft murmurs of a male voice slowly awoke Lois from her slumber. She attempted to stretch her arms upward only to find them pinned down. She grumbled her protests as she pushed against the solid form pinning her down.
“Morning.” Clark leaned into kiss her.
She smiled against his lips, “Morning.” She sighed happily as he readjusted himself so she could move her arms again. “No morning rescues?”
He shook his head. “It’s been pretty quiet.” He said, wrapping his arms around her more securely.
“I’m not complaining.” She whispered, caressing the side of his face with her palm.
His face broke out into a megawatt smile, “Me neither.”
She smiled, wrapping her arms around him, pulling him closer. She sighed contently, reveling in the feeling of skin against skin with him. His hands rested on her sides. “We’ve got to get going.” She said, climbing out of bed and heading toward the bathroom. He was about to argue when he saw her place a hand on her mouth and race to the bathroom.
“Lois?” he followed her in the bathroom. This was more than food poisoning. He grabbed a washcloth and wet it, squatting down behind her as she finished emptying her stomach. “This isn’t food poisoning.” He said.
“I know.” She cried, leaning on him for support. “I know.” she was about to say more when another wave of nausea hit her.
***
“So, how exactly do you get this….What do you call it again?” Mindy asked, throwing Miranda a dumb blonde expression.
Miranda sighed, “Pheromone. I used them whenever I was paid to. The pheromones ran their course and distracted the victims long enough for me to get what I wanted.”
“Sounds exciting!” Mindy’s eyes lit up.
“But what happens when it wears off?” Turner asked. “Surely you have a formula capable of lasting longer?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out, Mr….”
“Turner.” Turner supplied.
“Right.” Miranda nodded. “I really can’t place it, but you look so familiar.”
“He just has one of those faces,” Mindy said hurriedly, changing the subject.
“Yes, I have a familiar face to everyone.” Turner smiled.
“I suppose…” Miranda said.
“So, when do we run our first test on Superman?” Turner asked.
“It doesn’t work on Superman,” Miranda said exasperatedly.
“Oh?” Turner sniffed, “How do you know?”
“Because I’ve tested it countless times. No response.” Miranda snapped.
“Then we’ll just have to come up with something better for our neighborhood superhero,” Turner responded with a smile. He picked up a copy of the National Inquisitor that portrayed the image of Jesse and Leigh-Anne. The headline read, ‘Super Baby Needs Super Dad.’
***
Lois sat in the bathroom, staring blankly at the home pregnancy test Clark had run out and got for her. She held her breath as she watched the pink dye fill the empty white square. Almost immediately two lines appeared. Two lines. She was pregnant.
She gasped, saying a silent prayer as she cried. She was going to be a mother again. She was going to have a baby. The tears fell at their own accord. She couldn’t control them. Clark held her tightly, kissing her hair. It was obvious he was just as emotional as she was.
***
Perry stared at the image of Elvis hanging on his wall, uncertain of how to respond to the news he’d just received. Bill Church Jr. had been murdered. He was unsure of how to react. A part of him missed the young man he’d watched grow up, but another part of him was unsure who ‘Bill Church Jr.’ really was. The past few days had been enlightening for him when faced with the facts Bill Henderson had shown him of Church’s illegal business.
He wondered mildly if there was anyone in his life that wasn’t keeping something from him.
***
“You cannot just turn on me, Toni.” Nigel hissed. “We had a deal.”
Toni’s expression was cold as she stared back at Nigel. “I can do whatever I want. I chose to change investors. That’s my prerogative.”
“But the money…”
Toni handed him back a check. “Here you are. Every cent.”
Nigel read over the check she handed him; nodding as he read over it. She was right. Every cent was accounted for. “When you came to me; you said no one would back you. What changed?”
“I found someone willing to back me without quite so many strings attached,” Toni said smugly.
“I seriously doubt that.” Nigel sneered.
Toni pulled out a business card and handed it to him. “James Turner. He’s smooth, charming, and much more even tempered than you, Nigel. You could learn a thing or two from him.”
“But the Metro Club…”
“Is no longer your business,” Toni said sharply, cutting him off. “If we’re done here; I have business to attend to.” She turned on her heel, leaving Nigel with the business card of his replacement.
***
Amanda was in tears as she sat in the interrogation room with Inspector Henderson. “I …I don’t understand.” Amanda cried. “Why are you questioning me like this? My son is…”
“Your son?” Henderson challenged. “What hospital did you have him at, Amanda?”
“Metropolis General Hospital…” She whispered evasively.
“Really? Are you sure?” Henderson asked.
“Inspector, you still haven’t answered my question. Why are you questioning me to death? Why aren’t you looking for my little boy?”
“Maybe we already found him. Maybe we didn’t.” Henderson answered coolly. “My biggest problem is the fact that you’ve been lying to me from the start.”
***
Database after database stared back at Jimmy as he went from site to site, searching for a break in the research he’d thrown himself into ever since Lucy’s confrontation earlier that morning. She wouldn’t even give him a chance to try and be a father to their child. Who did she think she was?
He had every right to be around his child if he wanted to. Why did she have to be so stubborn? Why did she have to…
“Jimmy?” Clark placed a hesitant hand on the young man’s shoulder, uncertain of what to expect. Jimmy had been typing fiercely into his keyboard when he had entered the newsroom. He had barely acknowledged anyone around him. Perry had been hollering his name across the room but had been unable to penetrate the mental walls around him in Jimmy’s current state of mind.
“Jimmy?” He repeated a few octaves louder.
Jimmy spun around quickly, intent on confronting his intruder. He seemed to relax a moment when he saw Clark standing behind him. “Oh, hi, CK. I, uh, didn’t even see you come in.”
“So, I noticed.” He said concerned, taking a seat next to him. “Are you all right?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Jimmy asked edgily.
“No reason,” Clark said, shaking his head as he stood up. “What is all this?” He motioned to the piles of folders surrounding the young man’s desk.
“Background checks,” Jimmy muttered.
“OLSEN!!!” Perry’s voice bellowed across the room once more.
Jimmy jumped with a start, stumbling to his feet to answer his boss’ call. “Coming, Chief!”
Clark watched as Jimmy scrambled towards Perry White’s office, shaking his head in amusement. Whatever Jimmy had been working on had to have been important in order to block out the Chief’s bellow like that. He scanned through a few of the files, reading a few of the reports. Most of the files were on Bill Church and his company, but others were of someone he hadn’t heard of before. Dr. Miranda Prysstin, a chemist, known worldwide for her cosmetics. Why was Jimmy running a background check on her?
“HELP!!!” A blood-curdling scream reached Clark’s ears, causing him to bring himself back to his surroundings. He looked across the newsroom for Lois then remembered she wasn’t going to be in until later. She was still feeling a little under the weather. Just in case the rescue took longer than anticipated, he found a pad on her desk and quickly jotted down a note for her. A few seconds later he was gone.
***
“My…my…my b…baby…” Leigh-Anne cried tearfully, rocking herself back and forth as she fought to control her overflowing emotions. “He…he to…took….He…took…. Jess…Jesse.”
“Mrs. Stipanovic…” Inspector Henderson tried to calm her down long enough to get a statement but found it a lost cause. “I understand you’re upset, but we need you to tell us what happened. Who took your son?”
“I don’t know….I…”
“Inspector, I don’t think we’re going to get much out of her,” Superman said, approaching Henderson. He’d watched the scene unfold when he’d answered Leigh-Anne’s cry for help. She’d sat helplessly in her doorway, screaming for help as she cried for her son. She hadn’t been able to tell anyone what had happened. The signs of a struggle were evident in the house. Leigh-Anne had only been able to tell them that her son had been taken.
No other explanation.
***
“Superman’s child.” Turner mused happily as he took the baby into his arms happily. “What a pity…”
“That kid screams louder than Lana’s adopted kid at home.” Linda snapped irritably. “Are we done here? I’m getting a migraine.”
“Really? I think I have something for that.” James Turner said, reaching into his pocket.
“Good. My head is killing me.” Linda said rubbing her temples.
“No, but this will,” Turner said, aiming his rifle at Linda.
“What?” Linda looked up at him, surprised to see the barrel of a gun pointed at her. “What are you doing?”
Her body fell to the floor. Jesse continued to cry. “You have to learn to be strong. You have a great empire to run one day and tough skin is essential in a Luthor.” Turner cooed. Jesse continued to cry.
***
Lois paced around her sister’s office, unsure of how to even broach the subject of what she thought right now. She hadn’t had any morning sickness with Jordan. They had only been ‘trying’ for a few weeks. She needed to talk to someone other than Clark. She missed Lucy. She missed her sister.
“Lois, what are you doing here?” Lucy asked skeptically as she entered the office.
“I …I need to talk to you.” Lois began softly.
“If this is about Amanda Marshall I don’t have any more information than the police do. If I had known I would have…”
“Whoa!” Lois held her hands up to signal Lucy to slow down. “What are you talking about?”
Lucy handed her a file. “You don’t know?” She continued as Lois read through the file. She had worked here as a secretary. Lana had recommended her. Police arrested her earlier this morning. From what I’ve heard, she isn’t what she appears to be. She spent years working with Dr. Benzen in a lot of black market schemes. Their favorite was slicing and dicing patients without the consent of family and selling the goods to the highest bidder.” Lucy said, reading off the report she had in front of her.
Lois looked visibly sickened from his last statement. “That doesn’t explain why the police have her locked up.”
“Dr. Benzen’s dead.” Lucy shrugged. “Maybe they think she had something to do with it… Look, just be careful. I don’t want you getting your hopes up.”
Lois nodded. “I think it’s a little late for that. Look, about what happened the other day…”
Lucy shook her head, “Lois, I really don’t have time for this. I am behind on a lot of…”
“…cases.” Lois finished for her. “Yeah, you’re busy. Blah, blah, blah. I’ve heard it all before, Luce.”
Lucy groaned, shaking her head miserably, “What do you want?”
“I want you to quit being so stubborn and pay attention to what you’re doing.”
“And just what might that be?”
“You’re mad at yourself for what happened with Lex so you’re refusing to let yourself fall for the same mistake again. Only this time you’re cutting yourself off from any chance of a normal life or any kind of happiness whatsoever.” Lois crossed her arms over her chest as she glared smugly back at her sister, “Am I getting warm?”
“You know you can be a real pain in the ass when you’re cocky.” Lucy snapped irritably.
“Lucy, you’re pregnant.”
“Nah, really?”
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to Jimmy?” Lois snapped.
“It’s easier this way,” Lucy said quietly.
“Easier for whom?” Lois snapped. “You didn’t care about how you ignored all the warnings from everyone about Lex.”
“Lois…”
“You didn’t care about how you continued to give Jimmy mixed signals….” Lois continued to ramble on, ignoring Lucy’s interruption. “Somehow down the line you ended up making a baby. You need to figure out what you’re going to do and don’t you dare tell me you’re handling it on your own because I know you.”
“Why would that be so bad; to spare my kid the pain of a divorce that’s bound to happen down the line?” Lucy argued tearfully. “I don’t want my child growing up the way we did.”
“Is that what you really think, Luce? All marriage will end in divorce?” Lois asked dumbfounded.
Realizing how her statement sounded, Lucy began to backtrack. “I didn’t mean… I mean, you and Clark are…. You’re not me and Jimmy.”
“And you’re not mom and dad.” Lois finished for her. She took a long breath, “How long do you have to make yourself suffer for everyone else’s mistakes? What happened to my little sister that believed in love and was willing to take a chance?”
“She figured out not everything has a happy ending.” Lucy snapped. “Are you done lecturing me now? I really have work to do.”
“Right.” Lois nodded, “You know hiding behind your work isn’t going to make things any better. The pain’s just gonna fester until you finally snap. I wouldn’t want to be around when it does.” Lois left Lucy alone in her office to ponder her last words.
Lucy stared at the closed door, shaking her head. “What difference does it make?” She muttered to herself. “It’s not like you’re around, to begin with.”
***
“You claim your baby was stolen?” Sheldon Bender asked skeptically, going over the notes in front of him.
“Yes, Mr. Bender. I…I don’t know why the police locked me up. I came to them for help.” Amanda cried.
“They have this bad habit of denying innocent people their rights. That’s why I’m here.”
“I appreciate that Mr. Bender, but I can’t afford….”
“ A generous donor has decided to foot the bill. All you need to focus on is telling me exactly what happened when your son was taken…”
***
“Conspiracy to commit murder.” Henderson said glumly, “Among other things.”
“So, you think she’s responsible for Dr. Benzen’s death?” Lois asked.
“From what we’ve been able to gather; yes. She was the last person to see him alive. Her DNA was found on the body. She has a history with the victim…”
“History?” Lois asked abruptly.
Henderson looked around at his surroundings, uncertain if he should continue this conversation so publicly in front of all his colleagues. The details, in this case, had only been released to a select few officers and publicly discussing the case with a well-known reporter wasn’t something he wanted to be caught doing.
“Is something wrong?” Lois asked cautiously, sensing Henderson’s hesitancy.
“Let’s take a walk.” Henderson motioned for her to follow him.
***
“We’re doing everything we can, Ms. Stipanovic.” Detective Wolf tried to reassure her with a supportive hand on her shoulder. “Do you know why anyone would want to take your son?”
“I…I…don..don’t….know.” She cried. “Oh, God, this is all my fault. My….my fault…”
“You’re fault?” Wolf asked confused.
“If I hadn’t….If I hadn’t….My baby…My poor Jesse. This is all my fault.” She sobbed tearfully.
***
“You are such a good baby.” Lana cooed, bringing a spoonful of strained carrots to the baby boy’s open mouth.
“Ah!” He squinted up at Lana, smacking the spoon just as the food met his taste-buds. Strained carrots splattered everywhere on her, eliciting a scream of disgust from Lana and a squeal of laughter from her son.
Lana narrowed her eyes, shaking her head in disgust. “You don’t have to be so cocky about it.”
***
“You’re telling me that the woman you have locked up in there is the same person that kidnapped my son and you have no idea where he is?” Lois hissed vehemently as she paced around Henderson.
“All I have is my gut feeling and a lot of circumstantial…”
Lois cut him off again. “Circumstantial???” She let out a long breath before continuing. “My son has been missing for MONTHS! Nobody has done anything to lift a finger in finding him. When you FINALLY get a possible break in the case…. You don’t know? It’s pretty simple, Henderson! She either has him or she doesn’t!”
“I understand you’re upset, Lois.”
“Upset? Upset doesn’t even begin to describe how I’m feeling right now.” Lois said tearfully. “Answer the question.”
“As of right now, she doesn’t have him.”
“Then what makes you think she had him to begin with?” Lois asked angrily. “How do you know it wasn’t some other crazy out there?”
“She reported her son missing.” Henderson began.
“So?”
“There’s no record of birth. I don’t know where this came from. It was sent to me from an anonymous source, but according to this file; there’s no way she could have any children.”
“Why not?” Lois asked curiously.
“It’s hard to bear children when you lack the proper equipment,” Henderson said, waving a file in front of him.
Lois took the file from him and began scanning through it. Henderson was right. She had no uterus. How was she able to have a child? If she’d taken Jordan then why report him missing? “I don’t understand…”
“We’re going to find him, Lois. I promise you that.” Henderson reassured her.
“I want to talk to her.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea…”
“I’ll do it with or without your consent, Henderson. Your choice.” Lois hissed angrily.
“I’m not backing down on this, Lois. You and Clark are not stepping anywhere near that woman. I’ll find your son. Just trust me.” Henderson pleaded.
***
“Thank you all for coming.” Leigh-Anne squinted into the cameras in front of her.
“Mrs. Stipanovic!” The crowd shouted towards her at once.
“Over Here!”
“Where’s your son?”
“Do you suspect Superman?”
“I called ….I called this press conference for a reason.” Leigh-Anne began slowly. “I did a horrible thing. The worst thing any mother could do. I put my needs above my son’s and now I’m having to suffer for it. When Jesse was born he was a perfectly normal little boy. He was happy and that was all that mattered to me. It’s hard being a single mother, but it became even harder after a…..accident.”
“A few months ago we were on a plane to Travers City. The plane almost crashed. We were saved. After that, Jesse was never the same. I….I lied about Superman being his father. The truth is, Jesse’s father was a deadbeat dad that refused to have anything to do with either of us when he found out I was pregnant. I am so sorry for all the pain I’ve caused. Nobody deserved what I put Superman through. He had rescued me and my baby and I repaid him with betrayal.”
“I saw all the dollar signs people kept shoving in my direction and I kept telling myself it was all for Jesse, but it wasn’t right. None of it was right. Now my little boy is gone. He’s been kidnapped….”
“And I need help finding him.” Leigh-Anne broke down to tears at her last statement.
***
“Interesting development; don’t you think?” Mrs. Cox asked, looking up at the television monitors.
“Indeed, but I’m still not sure I understand how this child got Superman’s powers.” Nigel mused. “He’s only six months old. He’s flying, lifting furniture.”
“Electrical storm? Some sort of transfer going on?” Mrs. Cox guessed.
“Put in a call at Lex Labs and see what we can dig up. This information might become useful if we can duplicate the process.”
“Certainly.” Mrs. Cox smiled broadly.
“Has the package been sent?”
“Yes. Inspector Henderson should be catching up to Lana Lang shortly. Once she’s in custody we can take care of things from there.”Mrs. Cox reassured him. She pulled out her cell phone and began to dial. “Yes, get me in touch with Dr. Sam Lane…”
***
Clark stepped off the elevator only to be greeted by a silent newsroom glued to the television monitors. The image on the screen was that of Leigh-Anne, revealing herself to the world as a hoax.
“I kept telling myself it was all for Jesse, but it wasn’t right. None of it was right. Now my little boy is gone. He’s been kidnapped….and I need help finding him.” Leigh-Anne broke down to tears at the podium and the cameras moved away from her.
“Wow…” Jimmy said quietly. “That had to have taken a lot of guts.”
“A mother will do what they have to in times like these,” Perry said solemnly. “I sure hope they find that little boy.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Jimmy agreed solemnly, turning to head back to his desk.
Clark stood by Jimmy’s desk, waiting to talk to him and find out what had been going on while he’d been gone. Lois was nowhere to be found and he wasn’t sure if she’d come in yet or not. “Hey, Jimmy, have you seen Lois?”
“Nah.” Jimmy shook his head. “She hasn’t been in all morning.”
Daniel from research interrupted, “Hey, Kent, you got an Inspector Henderson on line 4 for you.”
Clark nodded his thanks to the young man and reached over to answer the call, “Clark Kent.”
***
“Please tell me you’re joking,” Clark said as he stepped into the interrogation room where Lois waited impatiently.
“What?” Lois asked defensively.
“What?” Clark repeated. “You seriously think Henderson would put you in the same room as the person that may or may not have kidnapped our son…ALONE?” She glared back at him, but her lack of response was enough to confirm Henderson’s story was correct. “Lois, we don’t even know if she knows where he is. She reported him missing.”
“She has to know something and I’m going to get to the bottom of this.” Lois snapped. “Who does she think she is? She seriously thinks she can report MY son missing like she’s….something to him??”
“Honey…” Clark began calmly, taking a seat next to her.
“Six months and three weeks.” She said quietly.
“I know.” He nodded, understanding what she was referring to. They’d already lost so much time with the son they’d never been given the chance to know.
“I just want it to be over. I want to be able to take him home and put him in his bed in our home where he belongs. Is that too much to ask for? It hurts. I keep going over and over that day, that week, the last six months…over and over in my mind. I can’t figure it out. What makes someone justify taking a child like that?”
“I don’t know.” Clark sighed, wrapping a protective arm around Lois as she fought valiantly to keep her composure from crumbling. She was a mess but seemed adamant about not letting anyone seeing it. “I just don’t understand what you think you’re going to get out of this woman. Do you really think she’s going to tell you why she took Jordan?”
***
“Aren’t you a bit young to be in here?” Bibbo asked, eying Jimmy Olsen critically as he stepped into his bar.
Jimmy smiled broadly, pulling out his id. “James Olsen, Daily Planet. I believe you know my friends, Lois Lane and Clark Kent?”
Bibbo nodded in recognition. “Yeah, they were…trying to help me with a problem I had with a friend.”
“Yeah, I heard,” Jimmy said solemnly. “I wanted to ask you a few questions about your friend, Red Dixon.”
“What about him? He’s dead. Not that anyone gives a damn.” Bibbo said solemnly, shaking his head. “Real shame too. That kid was going places.”
“What kind of places?” Jimmy asked.
“He had talent. That’s why he was always going over to the Metro Club on ‘Amateurs Night.’ Him and his guitar were the best of friends. Not a dry eye in the house most nights.”
Jimmy smiled as he watched Bibbo’s expression change to that of a proud father rather than a concerned friend. It was clear Bibbo was close with Red. “When did you first find out about Red being threatened?”
“It was after the Metro Club burned down. Red saw something he wasn’t supposed to see.” Bibbo said coolly.
“Any clue on what that was?” Jimmy asked.
“May have been on that disk I gave that Inspector that was investigating his murder,” Bibbo suggested. “Red never talked about it. He said he couldn’t trust the police. Cost him his life.”
***
Henderson stared uneasily at the door to the interrogation room. Detective Wolf had been in there for quite some time and he wasn’t sure if checking on him would be a good idea. He knew Wolf would be able to break Amanda. He’d sent Lois and Clark home while they worked on Amanda Marshall. Lois seriously thought he was going to let her in the same room as the woman that had kidnapped her son. That was laughable. He knew better.
He busied himself with clearing off the packages from his desk. He opened the largest package on his desk. There was no return address.
‘Inspector Henderson,
If you want to find the missing son of Lois Lane and Clark Kent go to the home of Lana Lang.
Signed,
A Friendly Neighbor.’
Was this a joke?
Lana Lang? She’d worked in the DA’s office for months. She was trusted among his staff. Why would she take a baby? He sighed, raking a hand through his hair.
“Hey, Zymack!” He hollered at the Sergeant, trying to grab his attention.
The older man nodded and turned back towards him. “What can I do for you, Inspector?”
“I got a possible location on that kidnapper. I need to check something out. Wanna ride?”
“Err…”
“Come on, we’ve been trying to crack this case for weeks...Let’s put this family back together.”
“Don’t try anything stupid, Henderson….” Sergeant Zymack warned.
***
TBC...
